College to Receive $100,000 Walmart Grant
Bloomfield College has been selected by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) to receive a Walmart Minority Student Success Award. The $100,000 grant will help build on Bloomfield College’s demonstrated successes in enrolling, retaining, and graduating first-generation college students. The grant is made possible by a $4.2 million grant to IHEP from the Walmart Foundation.
Bloomfield College was selected as one of only 30 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) —Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This highly sought grant was awarded to Bloomfield College to continue to develop programs to support first-generation students.
Bloomfield College will be attending the annual IHEP Summer Academy where they’ll be joined by representatives from the 14 other 2010 grantees to establish action plans to increase capacity, share ideas to better serve first-generation college students, and develop partnerships with other colleges and universities.
Richard Levao, president of Bloomfield College says, “We are honored to be selected as one of a small handful of outstanding higher education institutions nationwide to receive the Walmart Minority Student Success Award. Thanks in large part to this award, we will be able to enhance and expand our work with first-generation students and give them the skills they need to have a successful academic and professional career.”
Math faculty and professionals from the College’s Center for Academic Development will create a pilot developmental math program which will incorporate new curriculum, pedagogy and support service components, including calculators, interactive software and embedded tutors in and out of the classroom. The focus will be on conceptual learning rather than rote problem solving, and will align the curriculum with the new general education program requiring students to take college-level algebra. Benefits of the program are that students gain requisite skills to succeed in algebra and will complete at least 18 credits in the first academic year. “A mutually beneficial component to this program will be the cessation of students languishing in developmental math and their ability to now choose majors in which algebra is a prerequisite,” says Dr. Marion Terenzio, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty.
The current two-course sequence in the foundation math program requires a minimum of one academic year to complete. The unique feature of the new program is the seven-week module format which will allow students to finish the developmental sequence by the end of their first college semester rather than half way through their sophomore year.
“The institutions in our 2010 Minority Student Success cohort broaden and deepen the pool of MSIs committed to ensuring the success of the first-generation student success both at their campuses and beyond,” said Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) President Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D. “We are pleased to be working with them on programs that are sure to serve as models to all of higher education.”
”At Walmart, we understand that education is critical to the lives and well-being of all Americans. We’re proud to support giving that enables the success of first-generation college students,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation.
The Walmart Foundation grants support the existing work of MSIs to strengthen first-generation student success programs, with a special focus on classroom practices and the role faculty play in their students’ academic success. Approximately 41 percent of students enrolled at MSIs are first-generation, compared to 30 percent of students at Predominantly White Institutions. The overrepresentation of first-generation students at MSIs makes them ideal to help improve retention and persistence gaps for this student population.
The other 2010 winners include Adams State College (Colo.), Bowie State University (Md.), Coppin State University (Md.), Delaware State University (Del.), El Camino College (Calif,), Fort Belknap College (Mont.), Hampton University (Va.), Leech Lake Tribal College (Minn.), New Jersey City University (N.J.), United Tribes Technical College (N.D.), University of Houston- Downtown (Texas), University of New Mexico (N.M.), Valencia Community College (Fla.), and Winston-Salem State University (N.C.).
For more information about the initiative and grantees, visit the IHEP Web site at www.ihep.org/walmartminoritystudents.cfm .
About The Institute for Higher Education Policy
The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) is an independent, nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing access and success in postsecondary education around the world. Established in 1993, the Washington, D.C.-based organization uses unique research and innovative programs to inform key decision makers who shape public policy and support economic and social development. IHEP’s Web site, www.Ihep.org, features an expansive collection of higher education information available free of charge and provides access to some of the most respected professionals in the fields of public policy and research.
About Philanthropy at Walmart Stores, Inc.
Walmart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and the Walmart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, the Walmart Foundation funds initiatives focused on creating opportunities in education, workforce development, economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness. From February 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009, Walmart – and its domestic and international Foundations – gave more than $423 million in cash and in-kind gifts globally. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.