TRIO Student Support Services

TRIO Student Support Services Annual Report 2019-2020

TRIO Student Support Services

Note:  Student Support Services is a TRIO program funded by the United States Department of Education to provide academic support services to students from low-income and first-generation college-going backgrounds.  The mission statement and program goals (objectives in the U.S. Department of Education framework) are specified by federal regulations and policies and cannot be altered without approval from a program officer at the U.S. Department of Education.

I. Mission Statement

The mission of Student Support Services (SSS) is to improve the academic standing, retention, graduation, and graduate and professional school enrollment rates of eligible students who are receiving project services.

Department Goals

Performance Objectives (required by the U.S. Department of Education)

  1. Persistence: 69% of all students served by the SSS Project will persist from one academic year to the beginning of the next academic year or graduate. 
  2. Good Academic Standing: 91% of all enrolled participants served by the SSS Project will meet the performance of good academic standing (2.0 or above).
  3. Graduation: 59% of new participants served each year will graduate within six years. 
  • These performance objectives are in alignment with division goals to increase the retention and graduation of students.
  • The services offered by SSS also contribute to recruitment efforts by reassuring students and their families that individualized support is available to students from disadvantaged backgrounds at CSU, Chico.
  • The date of last reviewwas November 3, 2019 when the project submitted the TRIO Student Support Services Annual Performance Report (APR) to the U.S. Department of Education.

II. Departmental Accomplishments

  • Successfully hired and onboarded new director of the TRIO Student Support Services program.
  • Awarded 5-year funding for the program that represents 1.4 million dollars to continue to accomplish our program goals.
  • Adopted the term “financial wellness” in lieu of “financial literacy.”
  • Continued our relationship with the Recreation Department to give our students experience that they don’t typically have access to like camping in the Presidio, San Francisco area.
  • Increased our study sessions to include the spring semester for all new first-year students.
  • Like the rest of the campus, our program successfully transitioned into an online/virtual format to continue to serve our students.
  • Successfully started planning for the transition to using Chico State 360 in order to better fit university advising practices and note taking.
  • Partnered with the Cal-Fresh program to provide the best service to our program. This relationship continued as we transitioned online and began seeing many of our participants return home to other counties.
  • Partnered with Office of Accessible Technologies and Services to begin using the different Microsoft 360 software to improve our program. An example of this is our use of the Microsoft Booking website in order to maximize our accessibility to our students.
  • Achieved the transition of our selection and identification of eligible students into an online process that continues to meet the federal requirements of the Department of Education.
  • Carefully collaborated with our Financial Aid office ensure that our new 26 first-year and 11 transfer students were correctly packaged and met all Financial Aid requirements to get their aid on time.
  • Partnered with the Meriam Library and the Recreation Department to continue to get our students credits for participating in the first-year course – Offered participants an undergraduate research course that was co-taught with library faculty titled “Leadership Through Scholarship and Service.” Students earned two units through RHPM.
  • Required that all first-year participants, new transfer students, and students on AP to take the LASSI online assessment and follow it up with a one-on-one coaching session with a peer coach to discuss improving their approaches and strategies to their studies using proven-effective practices.
  • Refined our process for working with students on academic probation, and more closely helped our students to work with Academic Advising to receive help to get above the 2.0 cumulative grade point average.
  • Required attendance at mandatory financial wellness workshops for all first-year students and second year students.
  • Offered mandatory “Fresh Start” workshop for first year TRIO-SSS participants on academic probation.
  • Transitioned our contract services to an online format where students are able to more easily review where they stand with their requirements.
  • Offered mandatory fall semester seminar course for first year participants.
  • Hired 10 new peer mentors to continue to help our newest students enter our program, and more importantly, transition into college life at Chico State.
  • Offered mandatory weekly study sessions for all first-year participants.
  • Offered a one-week SSS Freshman Orientation Centered on University Success (FOCUS), running it alongside Wildcat Welcome Week.
  • Required participation in service-oriented field schools, facilitated by the department of Recreation, Hospitality, and Parks Management of all Participants in the “Leadership Through Scholarship and Service.”
  • Offered a spring graduate school tour with the CSU Graduate Diversity Forum.
  • Offered a one-day “Life After College” workshop for graduating seniors.

Highlights 

Online Services

Our program has operated over 532 hours of online services, and successfully transitioned all of our key and federally required services into an online format. We have creatively moved our identification and selection process into an online format. All three of our TRIO applications were quickly moved into an online format to be more accessible for our students and not require students to pay for the cost of mailing in their applications. When we transitioned into an online format many students had questions after spring break ended and they were ready to engage with academics again. We began holding weekly TRIO updates each Friday to allow students a guaranteed time where they could engage with our program. Over the seven weeks process we had over 200 student contacts due to the Friday meetings.

Our online Booking system has allowed 71 students to meet with us over a 6-week period. The Bookings program was first implemented in early July and we quickly added it to our Chico State TRIO website and our email signatures to allow students even more access to our staff. We are a high-engagement program that meets regularly with our students to offer one-on-one advising. Being accessible to our students is one of the vital parts of our program.

Our welcome and orientation programs for new students (26 first-year students and 11 transfer students) will be held strictly online. Our program offers two parent/ally welcome options that connects our program to the support systems of our students. This relationship is important to allow our program to win the support of the family, and hopefully convince them of the importance of supporting their students throughout college. Over 84% of our students will be living at home with their family, and we prioritize getting in contact with our student’s housemates to give tangible action items on how to support their students through a semester where they will be learning online.

Coaching program continues to enhance academic performance –  

The project moved from a traditional advising model to a coaching model, using research-driven approaches designed to “nudge” students toward academic self-confidence and success. Five years into this intrusive approach, we continue to see improved academic performance. All of our coaches were connected to new university owned devices to have better access to online resources to help our students.

Financial Wellness Program – All first-year participants, new transfer students, sophomores, and juniors/seniors on “Career Track” and “Grad School Track” were required to work one-on-one with a financial literacy coach in 2019-20. First year participants with a summer start (FOCUS) received more comprehensive and intrusive programming than other participants—they had two required phone coaching sessions over the summer, attended four financial literacy workshops during the fall semester, and learned to utilize an Excel budgeting tool. Sophomores were required to attend a four-week in-person financial literacy workshop.  Junior and senior participants in Career Track/Grad School Track met one-on-one with the financial literacy coach. Graduating seniors who participated in the annual Life After College seminar received training in budging for the first year after college, as well as building wealth.

As a result of our large financial program, students continue to have less student debt each year. Students in our program work closely with our coach to build budgets each year and have check-ins each semester to revise budgets to match their spending.

Diversity Efforts:

  • Inclusion efforts – male participants – In 2016, the project director modified internship requirements to ensure gender diversity among project staff so that male participants will see themselves reflected in project leadership. Result – Male students on the project’s leadership team increased from one male in 2016 to seven males in 2019-20. The overall percentage of male participants in the project also increased by 5% from the year we set this initiative (spring 2016).
  • Inclusion efforts – Latinx students – Culturally inclusive approaches were included in FOCUS, including Spanish speaking staff and welcome baskets delivered to students by SSS mentors. Latinx students are contacted in advance and encouraged to bring their parents to meet project staff.
  • Campus Collaboration, Representation, and Outreach
    • WESTOP 2019 – The student development coordinator presented on the project’s financial wellness program at the WESTOP 2019 regional conference.
    • Pause 2020 – The student development coordinator worked on with PDC to represent the program, and put on a successful PAUSE conference in January 2020.
    • Recruiting Coordination Committee – The director served on the Enrollment Management created committee that focuses on recruiting a diverse student population.

III. Changes in Policies and Procedures

Changes to our online selection and identification of new eligible students. In a tough transitional year with a force to an online learning, and a concern about decreasing enrollment numbers, our department was concerned about how to complete our identification and selection process. The Department of Education changed policy and gave more direction on allowing electronic signatures. With the added flexibility, we were able to move our TRIO applications online and operate our process all virtually and accessible to students.

IV. Resources Summary

Budget Summary:

*Note:  Fiscal year is based on a September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020 timeline. 

Budget Summary

SSS allocation for 2019-20

$284,756

Rollover from 2018-19

 $17,355

Total allocation for 2018-19

$302,111

Projected expenses*

($291,000)

Projected carryover balance

$0.00

End of five-year grant cycle*

Staffing:

Added a new project director. The search ended in July, and the offer was made in August. Coming from Student Life and Leadership, and the timing of Wildcat Welcome the director started the position on September 7, 2019.

Facilities/Equipment:

N/A

V. Program Assessment of Past Year

Program Objectives (Performance Objectives required by the U.S. Department of Education)

  1. Persistence: 69% of all students served by the SSS Project will persist from one academic year to the beginning of the next academic year or graduate.

Of the 149* participants enrolled in 2018-19, 145 or 94% either graduated or have registered for the fall 2019 semester.

  1. Good Academic Standing: 91% of all enrolled participants served by the SSS Project will meet the performance of good academic standing (2.0 or above).

Of the 149* participants enrolled in 2018-19, 140 or 91% were in good academic standing (GPA above 2.0) by the end of the academic year.

  1. Graduation: 59% of new participants served each year will graduate within six years. 

Of the 25 participants admitted into cohort 2013, 16 or 76% graduated within six years of their point of entry into the program.

*This does not include new first year participants or transfer participants admitted summer 2019.

Program Annual Objectives for 2018-19

  1. Hire and onboard new project director.

Outcome: Joel Ramirez joined the program in September of 2019 as the new project director.

With the help of the director of EOSP, the two TRIO directors in Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search, and the student development coordinator the new project director was able to start to familiarize with the program. The Annual Performance Report was successfully submitted to the Department of Education. New processes were established to fit the needs of the students as a result of the pandemic.

  1. Submit new grant proposal for 2020-2025

Outcome: Submitted January 2020 and awarded in August 2020.

This process required work with institutional research, collecting letter of commitments from a number of departments all over campus, and working with various TRIO experts through Chico State and Butte College.

As a result, the project was notified by Senator Feinstein’s office that the grant was successfully funded by the Department of Education. The grant award represents over 1.4 million dollars to continue serving first generation, low-income, and students with disabilities.

  1. Spend down all grant funds to zero by the end of project year 2020.

Outcome: Will spend grant funds down to under $15,000 for the budget year by August 31, 2020

With the move to online, a lot of programs that were originally planned for the program were not able to happen. This had led to many funds having to be re-allocated to other areas of the budget in a short time frame.

VI. Ongoing Assessment Efforts

Demographic Reporting

Federal legislation requires that SSS participants must be first generation college students (neither parent has a four-year degree), come from a low-income background, and/or have a documented disability.  Two-thirds of students must be both low-income and first generation.  SSS met these demographic requirements in 2018-19.

  • Gender – Female: 65%    Male: 35% 

Statistics on Program Usage

Table 1: SSS Individual Advising/ Coaching 2019-20 – Number of Participants Served

Total number of active participants during fall and spring semesters*

149

Received individualized non-cognitive skills coaching

149

Received advice and assistance in postsecondary course selection

102

Received education/counseling to improve financial literacy

82

Received information in applying for Federal Student Aid

94

Received assistance in completing and applying for Federal Student Aid

96

Received assistance in applying for admission to Graduate School

15

Received study abroad or National Student Exchange advising

14

Received Career and professional development advising/coaching

71

Total number of individual advising/coaching sessions 2019-20

1007

*Does not include students admitted during the summer of 2020

VII. Analysis

  • Continue to increase recruitment efforts toward underrepresented groups – The number of SSS applications received from males and black students (both genders) continues to be low compared with other populations. We have seen a four percent increase in the overall number of male students served since setting this goal. New and innovative approaches need to continue to be sought that will encourage these students to apply.
  • Continue to seek and obtain supplemental funds – The U.S Department of Education imposes strict guidelines governing the use of project funds to pay for food and hospitality. This presents a challenge when scheduling overnight field trips, as well as daylong workshops and trainings for project participants from low-income backgrounds who cannot afford to supply their own meals/accommodations.  In 2017-18, the project director requested and secured the project’s ability to pay for room and board for both FOCUS and the Graduate School Tour through the end of the grant cycle in 2020.  We hope to continue this request into our new grant cycle once travel is allowable and safe. The project should continue to seek additional funds for purchase of items not allowable by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Continue to offer First Year Experience seminar to first year participants –Analysis of data collected from participant surveys and evaluations indicates that the project’s non-cognitive skill building activities offered via the First Year Experience seminar successfully increased participants’ academic self-confidence. The seminar allows for participants to have experiences that they may not have traditional access to in the past.
  • Continue to require weekly study sessions for first year participants each fall and spring – New first year participants were required to attend 1.5-hour study sessions once per week in the fall semester and then were offered optional sessions in the spring. At the end of spring 2020, participants indicated that the study sessions had a positive impact on their academic performance, and recommended continuing to require study sessions in the future.
  • Continue to offer spring leadership course with a focus on social justice, undergraduate research, and community service – 19 first year students opted to take the optional spring leadership course offered by TRIO-SSS this year. This course was co-taught by library faculty and students focused on social justice issues in the U.S. and in their home communities. While more data should be collected in the coming years, continued connection to program staff and high-quality academic preparation in the second semesters appears to have a correlation with academic performance.
  • Continue to tie grant aid to completion of TRIO-SSS contracts – Quantitative (cumulative GPA) and qualitative (student evaluations) data for first year and 2nd year participants indicate that the activities required by the 1st and 2nd year contracts have a positive impact on student success in all areas pre-identified as important.

VIII. Program Objectives for the next academic year

Program Annual Objectives for 2020 – 2021  

  1. Successfully implement a new student database to track student progress and have accurate representation of our active and inactive student participants.
  2. Improve our online student application to be accessible for students, and meet all of the federal guidelines.
  3. Increase the collaboration and partnership with the Adelante program that will provide a pipeline to our students toward graduate programs.