The Important Role of Minority-Serving Institutions February 18, 2019 By Pat Roe Read Time Strada Article Employers Equity & Oppo... Research Research Team Value of Education ... At Strada Education Network®, we’re interested in supporting all students on their education-to-career journey and we are fortunate to have great partners in this work – partners who understand the value of engaging with students wherever they are on that journey and supporting their success. Many devoted educators have worked for decades to address the challenges their students face, developing college admissions policies that truly welcome a diverse student body and deploying student success teams to help students stay on track. They have embraced the promise of using meaningful data to measure students’ progress and to determine which interventions will be successful in helping students transition from school to career, and to continue to learn throughout their working lives. Our Philanthropy team is determined to support and scale programs that work – especially those aimed at helping students of color, students from low-income households, and those who are the first in their family to pursue an education beyond high school. Why? Because if we level the postsecondary playing field for all students we remove barriers that prevent them from succeeding. We are continuing our engagement with a select group of five innovative Minority Serving Institutions through Strada’s MSI Measuring College Value initiative. Now entering its third and final year, this initiative has provided $325,000 grants and other support to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis; Wiley College in Marshall, Texas; St Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida; and Martin University in Indianapolis to develop and scale their student success efforts to help students earn on-time degrees and successfully transition to meaningful careers in their chosen fields. By next fall, we expect that each of these institutions will report not only on their success but also on their plans to continue the work into the future with the strategic focus on Strada’s mission of Completion With A Purpose®. The work by these five institutions is ground-breaking: They are eliminating barriers to employment by engaging employers in their work with students to assist them in building professional networks, increasing opportunities for internships and real-time work-based learning in the classroom, using and training on new technology to provide certifications and design e-portfolios, and helping adult learners who are also working part-time to update and enhance their skills. Already, this work is attracting attention—and funding—from sources beyond Strada. Critical-thinking exercises and the augmentation of communications courses at St. Thomas University have resulted in the university winning a $1 million grant for their work in Bobcat Analytics, an initiative that is equipping students with the technical and digital skills they need to launch and maintain careers in high-demand fields. Engineering, Business, Education, Communications, and IT are areas in which the campuses are working. An unanticipated benefit of this work has been the professional development of faculty. One faculty administrator shared that because her entire career has been on campus, her external employer network and engagement had been limited until this project was initiated. Now she and others are paying closer attention to their own networking and professional development, realizing that faculty working in the fields they are teaching can enhance campus relationships with students, employers and the community. Grantees also are focusing on curriculum redesign, engaging employer partners to determine what is expected of students and to incorporate these areas into the academic setting. Employer partners are a part of each team and are considered experts in the field who share insights, new products, and services with the institutions. Finally, all five of the institutions are weaving alumni engagement throughout this work as campuses leverage the Strada-Gallup Alumni Surveys to understand how their alumni feel about their experiences on campus, and how they can engage with current students as mentors and/or potential employers. I’m looking forward to seeing the results next fall, and more importantly, to exploring how these five institutions can continue to help students while serving as role models and consultants to other institutions like them. Group 13 Group 11 Group 12 To create a PDF of the webpage, choose in opened window 'Save as PDF' option in 'Destination' select or something like that and click to save or print button. Got it Our Contributors Pat Roe Vice President, Philanthropy Strada Education Network Learn More Latest From Research March 16, 2022 The Power of Work-Based Learning Applied connections between education and work are increasingly a part of undergraduate education in the United States. March 16, 2022 New study shows paid internships boost first-job salaries by $3,000 and student confidence about their careers Disparities in securing paid internships persist for women, people of color, first-generation college students, and students with low incomes — even when taking into account their fields of study February 16, 2022 The Significant Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Two centuries after the first historically Black colleges and universities were founded, the 101 accredited HBCUs in operation today continue to deliver on their legacy of expanding educational opportunity for Black students that leads to successful and fulfilling lives. January 19, 2022 How Colleges Help Students Succeed Beyond Completion As a field, higher education has experienced a continuing evolution in how to measure success. For nearly five decades success efforts were focused on access, followed by the past decade and a half pursuing completion, and the field now has a growing focus on the value of a degree and student outcomes beyond completion. January 5, 2022 5 Ways To Integrate Career Connection Into College Experience Recent Strada research points to a striking disparity between first-year students’ aspirations for career planning in their undergraduate years and seniors’ actual experiences. December 8, 2021 Understanding Undergraduates’ Career Preparation Experiences Strada’s prior research on undergraduate perceptions of the value of their education demonstrates that students value their education most when they receive support to connect their education and career interests. December 8, 2021 Analysis of Undergraduate Career Preparation Emphasizes Need for Professional NSSE and Strada researchers identify gaps in social capital development in 2021 NSSE career preparation data November 29, 2021 Promising Practices for Reconnecting Recent High School Graduates to Postsecondary Education In the wake of historic pandemic-related enrollment declines, postsecondary institutions have responded by developing and expanding innovative approaches to engaging learners. October 27, 2021 Student Outcomes Beyond Completion: National Findings From the 2021 Strada Alumni Survey The baccalaureate degree remains the surest path to economic mobility, employment stability, and a host of associated social benefits. October 27, 2021 Nationwide alumni survey looks beyond completion to understand experience, benefits of a college degree Courses, faculty receive high marks, but valued education-career connections are less consistent, and females, first-generation, Black alumni are less likely to report successful outcomes