EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM
I. MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) is to provide access and support services to first-generation college students who have experienced economic, educational, and/or environmental barriers, but display the potential to succeed in post-secondary education and to assist the university in the matriculation, retention, and graduation of EOP students.
Department Goals (Last reviewed July 2022):
- EOP will provide a comprehensive program of support services that will enhance the knowledge, understanding, and skills necessary for the academic success and the social and emotional personal development of EOP students. (Division goals 1, 2, 3; University strategic priorities 1, 3)
- EOP will promote social, cultural, and ethnic diversity in the CSU, Chico campus population. (Division goal 2; University strategic priorities 4, 7, 8)
- EOP will educate and inform students, faculty, and staff about program services and accomplishments. (Division goal 1, 2; University strategic priorities 1, 2, 4, 5, 8)
- EOP professional staff will maintain currency in the fields of college student retention, academic advising and obstacles encountered by first-generation and other historically marginalized college students through memberships in professional organizations, reading appropriate research journals, and professional development opportunities. (Division goals 1, 2; 3; University strategic priorities 2, 4, 5, 8)
- EOP will encourage student participation and involvement in the CSU, Chico campus community and the community of Chico as a whole. (Division goals 1, 2; University strategic priorities 1, 4, 6, 7, 8)
DEPARTMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Successfully continued EOP services in a virtual modality in addition to encouraging students to take advantage of in-person resources
- Continued to support students’ technology needs by providing calculators, laptops and iClickers
- Increased use of social media platforms; specifically, Instagram and Google Currents, as a way to engage students
- Successfully facilitated our in-person FYE culminating event at the end of the fall semester
- Strengthened partnership with Academic Advising Programs with increased department collaboration
- EOP support and representation in several of the Advancing Equity committees
- EOP representation on the Student Learning Fee committee
Highlights:
- Successfully continued EOP services in a virtual modality in addition to encouraging students to take advantage of in-person resources: EOP advisors continued to support students’ preferences as to which option of services worked best for individual students. There were increased email and call campaigns in the following areas: informing students about the vaccination policy, outreach to students who were under enrolled and general outreach to encourage students to visit the office in person.
- Strengthen partnership with Academic Advising Programs with increased department collaboration: EOP collaborated with AAP and the College Academic Retention Specialists to provide training. EOP also partnered with AAP to pilot a recruitment and training program for student interns. If this partnership proves successful, this will provide more opportunities for collaboration for hiring and training EOP interns and paraprofessionals.
- EOP representation in several of the Advancing Equity committees: in addition to several EOP staff serving as co-chairs of Advancing Equity committees, EOP provided essential support to the Advancing Equity peer mentoring research and collaborated on establishing student learning outcomes for first year advising practices.
Diversity Efforts:
- Active participation and support in the First-Generation Staff organization
- Continued partnership with the Adelante program (collaborative student trainings and co-sponsored workshops)
- Staff assists in coordination and support of many of our Multicultural Welcomes and Graduation Celebrations
CHANGES IN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
- EOP admissions continued to admit freshman applicants during spring 2022, all in attempt to aid the University in meeting undergraduate admission targets.
- EOP admissions continues to evolve and use innovative practices to increase enrollment and provide access. Summer Bridge 2022 was an optional program (for admitted CSU eligible students and mandatory for all exceptional admits) to allow for one of the largest summer bridge classes. 250 admitted EOP students were invited to summer bridge and 159 attended the six-day program.
RESOURCES SUMMARY
Note: The balances for both EOP and SB funds were still impacted by COVID-19 which resulted in less spent due to no travel, minimal programming, professional development and a smaller cohort class for our residential Summer Bridge program.
Human Resources
EOP continues to experience multiple transitions and currently has two vacancies. We were able to add an e-hire at the end of May to help with our administrative support. The strain of not having a complete team is definitely being felt by our existing team members. Our unit’s current capacity to fulfill the needsof our students is being challenged due to our incomplete team. It is essential for our program to reach full staffing capacity to continue to be successful in serving our first generation, historically low-income students.
Facilities/Equipment
- New laptop was purchased for our new office manager.
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT OF PAST YEAR
Program Objectives for 2021-2022
*Note:due to the transition of providing services virtually and in person, the majority of program objectives will remain unchanged to allow EOP advisors the opportunity to focus on providing services to the students with the greatest academic needs.
- EOP will continue to meet with all continuing students who are on academic probation.
Ongoing - While it remains too difficult to engage students virtually who are on academic notice, EOP did see an increase of students coming into the office physically to meet with paraprofessionals and advising staff. With the hire of the new EOP assessment coordinator in spring 2022, EOP will increase efforts to engage this population. - Enhance virtual and physical support to students equally, during the hybrid fall semester. With paying particular attention to the fall 2020 cohort and those participants of the Second Year Success program.
Met -EOP student Interns continued to provide support to professional staff in addressing the needs of our second year EOP students. Several surveys were conducted along with increased reiteration for students to comply with the requirements outlined in the Second Year Success contract. The assessment coordinator will use the results from the surveys to assist in establishing objectives for fall 21 cohort that will participate in the SYS program. - Continue to enhance support for our students, especially first-year, through communication via electronic technology and social media.
Met/Ongoing- The EOP FYE Coordinator lead the Parapro team in establishing a consistent presence on social media. Along with the EOP Public relations Intern, the EOP Instagram account saw an increase in followers and activity. This mode of communication allowed our department to interact with our student population, while encouraging the use of campus resources. Our department continues to purchase laptops to ensure our students have access to aid in their education. - Will continue to focus on professional development and more intentional programming for our continuing students.
Ongoing - This specific objective will remain a priority for our department. The constant instability of the EOP professional staff due to all the personnel changes has made it difficult to take advantage of professional development opportunities offered beyond the campus sponsored events.
Ongoing Assessment Efforts:
Admissions CategoryFall 2017Fall 2018Fall 2019Fall 2020Fall 2021
Note: This is a new table for Graduation Initiative purposes.
Student Learning Outcomes
SLO #1 – As a result of participating in the English “Stretch Model”, students should be able to successfully pass ENGL 130. - This is the 12th year that ENGL 130 was moved to the spring semester. Students have the option to take English 130PW or 130W. English offered classes virtually and in person for the spring 2022 term, 83.8% of our first-year students passed the course on their first attempt.
SLO #2 – As a result of participating in the “Reality Check 101” series, fewer students will be on academic probation after their first semester - During the fall semester, students receiving two or more negative progress reports (C- or below) or who were referred by their paraprofessional advisor, were encouraged and invited to participate in Reality Check. Revisions were made to the format of Reality Check, to allow students to participate in a manner that allowed flexibility within our remote learning environment. These meetings are designed to strengthen academic performance and avoid academic probation. Topics included:
- Helping students reflect on their academic performance
- Identifying challenges or obstacles, on and off campus, from fall semester
- Discussing academic probation (Chico or cumulative GPA below 2.0)
- Discussing reality of disqualification (Chico or cumulative GPA below 1.5 for students with less than 30 units)
- Goal setting by identifying three things the students will change to enhance their engagement and academic achievement
- Reviewing course enrollment for spring 2022
- Examining course drop options
SLO #3 – As a result of participating in “Fresh Start”, fewer students will be on academic probation after their first year. EOP first year students with a GPA below 2.0 after their first semester were invited to participate in an individualized adaptation of our “Fresh Start” spring workshop series. These individual meetings allowed the students to participate at their own pace while assisting them with identifying areas they were experiencing trouble and what resources were available to assist them in raising their GPA.
*Due to the departure of the FYE coordinator, data was not collected for this term. EOP will continue to facilitate a program that will address the needs of first year students that are on placed on academic notice by AAP.
VI. ANALYSIS
- Proper assessment of EOP students and the services offered will be a priority. As we work to replace essential positions, EOP is creating a team that will provide critical feedback on how to improve services to our student population. Providing assessments to FYE, SYS, transfer and continuing students remains an essential element in ensuring EOP is serving students in the best manner possible.
- Given the trends of higher education and career development, focusing on life-after-college preparation for our students will need to become a priority. While EOP has collaborated with the Career Center and the Adelante program, we will work to make these partnerships and the services more intentional to ensure our students are aware of the opportunities available.
- EOP is diligently working with our Technology Specialist, to make sure EOP students, student workers and staff continue to get their technology needs met. During Summer Bridge, we were able to pilot the texting tool created by our Technology Specialist, as a way to communicate with our first-year students. We will encourage all EOP students to opt in to this texting tool and continue to implement innovative strategies to increase student engagement.
VII. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES FOR 2022-2023
- EOP will actively connect with all continuing students who are on academic notice and will encourage students to take advantage of resources available to aid in improving their academic performance.
- Re-establish the EOP Student Association.
- Increase support to EOP students that have spent the majority of their college career learning remotely.
- Will encourage staff to participate in at least one professional development opportunity during the year.
- Create opportunities to encourage EOP students to engage with the EOP office and staff in-person.
