Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Educational Opportunity Initiatives (EOI)


Educational Opportunity Initiatives (EOI)        

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Office (810) 762-3365
Fax: Main Office (810) 762-3190
www.flint.umich.edu/eoi

Director: TBA
Administrative Assistant Senior: Sheri Hawkins

EOI Mission
The mission of the Office of Educational Opportunity Initiatives is to foster changes in institutional services and climate and enhance the ability of the University of Michigan-Flint to identify, recruit, serve and graduate students of diverse backgrounds with a particular emphasis on students from underrepresented groups such as non-traditional, educationally and economically disadvantaged, and those from urban and other areas where the college access and success rates are significantly below the national average. Ultimately, such efforts should contribute to the overall adaptability and success of UM-Flint and enhance the climate of the UM-Flint community such that it is markedly more responsive, adaptive, and effective in meeting the needs of all of its constituent community.

EOI Overview
The Office of Educational Opportunity Initiatives at the University of Michigan-Flint provides a seamless web of targeted support services for select middle school and high school students, and both traditional and non-traditional college students through a variety of programs in two primary service areas: Pre-College Programs and College Level Programs.  EOI provides participants with academic and non-academic support services designed to enhance preparation for high school graduation; foster access to and meaningful engagement at the postsecondary level and then to persist through graduation from the University of Michigan-Flint.

The EOI programs and services comprise a virtual seamless web of services that begin with outreach to students in the middle schools and extend throughout students’ secondary and postsecondary education. It is possible, as it happens in numerous instances, that we identify and enroll a student in a pre-college program as a sixth grader and work continuously with that student through high school and ultimately until graduation from the University of Michigan-Flint.

We have straightforward and simple goals and objectives.  We focus on comprehensive services coupled with careful tracking of our students at regular intervals to determine the impact of services.  In the work that EOI does, it is the students’ acceptance of personal empowerment that is at least as important as what direct services the programs deliver.

Below are summaries of the key EOI pre-college and college programs and services. EOI receives a significant supplemental program component funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation that has expanded one of our pre-college programs (CEO) to include a fully residential summer component and a major enhancement of the academic year services.

Pre-College Programs and Services

Program Manager: Ms. Tawana L. Parks,

Committed to Excellence and Opportunity Pre-College Programs

In the summer of 2014, EOI converged all pre-college program initiatives including Choosing to Succeed (CTS); Wade H. McCree, Jr. Incentive Scholarship Program (ISP); Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP); and Parent University under the single umbrella of Committed to Excellence and Opportunity (CEO).

CEO Pre-College Programs, working as a collaborative community, is dedicated to the development of student scholars through holistic education.  We develop leaders by empowering students to recognize their potential, maximize opportunities, promote academic excellence, and utilize acquired skills for the purpose of building their community and attaining a post-secondary degree.  CEO serves students, particularly those from underrepresented, educationally, or economically disadvantaged backgrounds in grades 6 through 12.  CEO recruits students, hereto referred to as “scholars” from Genesee County Schools with a focus on Flint, Beecher, and Westwood Heights school districts.  Eligible CEO Scholars have an opportunity to earn a scholarship to the University of Michigan-Flint.

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) /
Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Rosa Parks College Day Program (GU/CD)

The KCP College Day Program was originally created by the Michigan State legislature in 1986 as part of the larger King/Chavez/Parks Initiative to increase the enrollment of minority and other students traditionally underrepresented in post-secondary education. In 2006-07 the state program, now funded by the Michigan Department of Workforce Development Agency, was merged with the federally funded (U.S. Department of Education) Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). The program recruits the entire 7th grade class at Beecher Community Schools and college readiness services are provided to the class as a cohort. Throughout the summer and academic year, the program provides a comprehensive series of workshops and enrichment activities working with the students and their parents. Upon graduation, a select percentage of the graduating program participants will be eligible for limited college scholarships provided by the federal grant fund established for that purpose.

College Programs and Services

Program Manager:  Ms. Tonya C. Bailey

Access to College and Careers with Excellence through Student Services Program (ACCESS)

Funded through the Office of King/Chavez/Parks Initiatives in the Michigan Department of Workforce Development Agency, with added support by the University of Michigan-Flint through EOI, the ACCESS Program delivers a comprehensive series of interventions and services designed to promote student success academically, personally, and socially. ACCESS is designed to introduce and engage students, (particularly educationally or economically disadvantaged students and others identified as being at high risk of not persisting through to graduation) in strategies and processes that are central to success in college, while also assisting students in resolving issues that can inhibit success. The program is designed to introduce and actively engage students (primarily first and second year students) in strategies and techniques that are essential to student success in college.

The ACCESS Program features a unique concept entitled the Posse component. While the Posse concept has previously been used exclusively for residential schools, the ACCESS Program has adapted the concept to accommodate our largely commuter student body. Students are identified, recruited and selected to form teams called “Posses.” Students are grouped into teams according to academic majors and other interest areas as one means to promote strong networking opportunities for Posse members as they pursue their educational goals. The Posse philosophy promotes academic achievement and leadership; it further empowers students to succeed and become active agents of change.

Introduced as a lower cost alternative to the former ACCESS Summer Bridge Program, the Workshops on Wednesday (WOW) initiative has also been successful in attracting participants who prefer to make the commitment to attend two workshops on consecutive Wednesdays. It is directed to incoming first-year college students and rising high school seniors as an introduction and initial/brief immersion in a simulated college classroom. The workshops are led by UM-Flint professors in key academic areas with an emphasis on English, mathematics and the sciences.

Promise Scholar Program

Through a collaborative effort with the Student Success Center, the Promise Scholar Program is designed to assist students who have demonstrated academic achievement and success yet do not meet one or more of the traditional freshman admissions criteria. Students are offered contractual admission through the Office of Admissions and enter into a partnership agreement with the University for their first year of enrollment at UM-Flint. Promise Scholars are part of a Promise Learning Community designed to be an exciting and supportive environment that is dedicated to academic success and personal development in college.  The University of Michigan-Flint Promise Scholar Program seeks to retain and graduate competent and engaged citizens.  Our curriculum is designed to help motivated students, with diverse academic strengths and interests, achieve the goals they have set for themselves and be successful in all aspects of their lives at the University of Michigan-Flint

Objectives

  • Strengthened friendships. Develop close and beneficial relationships with fellow Promise Scholars by sharing classes, activities and community involvement.
  • A close connection to faculty. Benefit from unique opportunities to interact with, learn from and even perform research alongside dedicated faculty members
  • Expert guidance and mentoring. Enjoy access to a dedicated team of advisors, mentors and coaches who can answer questions, provide advice, set up study groups and ensure you have the resources you need to succeed.
  • Priority access to classes. Receive priority when registering for your Promise Learning Community classes.  Take classes at convenient times from professors who are aware of the unique needs of new college students and who are dedicated to helping you make the successful transition to college.
  • Hands-on learning. Take advantage of shared in-class and out-of-classroom experiences with fellow Promise Scholars to develop your knowledge, hone your skills and become leaders.

Introduced to a variety of support services through the program, students have the opportunity to improve their academic skills as well as develop useful tools that will enhance their collegiate experience.

Transitions Program

Funded through the Office of King/Chavez/Parks Initiatives in the Michigan Department of Workforce Development Agency, with added support from UM-Flint in partnership with Mott Community College, the Transitions Program is designed to facilitate and increase the diversity and numbers of educationally or economically disadvantaged students who transfer from Mott Community College to UM-Flint to pursue a baccalaureate degree.

The Transitions Program identifies and recruits a select group of students at Mott Community College and cultivates within them the desire to pursue higher education to the attainment of a baccalaureate degree. The Transitions Program provides a series of intervention and outreach services that encourages persistence at MCC, directs students through the transfer process and continues with follow-up services to support academic achievement and graduation from the University of Michigan-Flint. Program participants receive comprehensive academic and developmental advising, transfer credit evaluation, financial aid and scholarship workshops, transfer student orientation, and a variety of individualized personal services designed to address the unique concerns of each transfer student. The Transitions Program utilizes a holistic approach to working with the transfer student to promote their academic, personal and social integration into the university. Once admitted to UM-Flint, the Transitions students are merged directly into the ACCESS Program for continued support and follow up.