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NEW
BRITAIN – June 18, 2008 – Central Connecticut
State University has received a major
grant from the Connecticut Department of Higher
Education to continue its successful effort to
increase minority enrollment and retention. The
five-year funding plan, which amounts to $70,255
for the upcoming academic year, is the second
such grant CCSU has received. The first
produced notable progress in recruitment and
student success according to Professor of
Psychology Francisco Donis. He has been
involved at every step of the Connecticut
College Access and Success Program and its
implementation.
“The
ConnCAS grant from the Connecticut Department of
Higher Education has allowed us to provide
educational access and opportunities to students
from underrepresented groups and also to prepare
them so that they can have a smooth transition
from high school to CCSU, thus promoting the
recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of
these students,” Dr. Donis said. “We have
provided these services for the last five years,
and now that this grant has been reapproved for
another five years, it will enable us to
continue preparing our students to succeed in
higher education. Because these programs have
become very successful, CCSU has made a
commitment to provide additional funding to
expand them.”
Dr. C.
Charles Mate-Kole, professor of psychology and
director of the Center for Africana Studies
oversees an innovative mentoring program for
high school students that is funded, at least in
part, through the grant. “Our students,” he
noted, “are currently working with (freshmen,
sophomores and juniors) at New Britain’s E.C.
Goodwin Vocational Technical High School in a
tutoring and mentoring capacity”
The Goodwin Tech students “come here twice a
week during the semester and our students go
there once a week,’ Dr. Mate-Kole said. “Other
students come from the local community twice a
week.” A collaboration with the New Britain
NAACP chapter, also funded through the grant, is
aimed at establishing a Saturday “academy” for
elementary school students.
Peer counseling and mentoring is also available
for enrolled CCSU students based on the belief
that first year students need close
relationships with other students. The year
round mentoring program was developed to act as
a support system for students of African
descent. Its goal is to eradicate obstacles to
African American students in successfully
completing their first year of college and
eventually persisting to graduation.
In a self-assessment study conducted by the
University it was noted that mentoring is
implemented by peer counselors who are CCSU
juniors and seniors with instruction being made
available in math, science, English and social
studies.
Similarly, the goal of the CCSU-Latino ConnCas
program is to help “at-risk” Latino students
attain the resources they might need and to
“create a family-like atmosphere conducive to a
successful academic career at our institution.”
CCSU also successfully recruits minority
students through college fairs, community
outreach programs and campus sponsored events
such as high school visitation days
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