A program at Fresno Pacific University to help students graduate college and succeed in science-related fields has won a national award.
Excelencia in Education named the FPU STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program as its Example of Excelencia for the Baccalaureate Category during the 10th Annual Celebración de Excelencia on September 22, 2015. “Fresno Pacific University is at the forefront of improving higher educational achievement for Latino students and we congratulate them,” said Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education.
A nonprofit agency devoted to increasing higher education achievement for Latino students, Excelencia in Education gives one prize in each of four categories: associate degree, bachelor’s degree, graduate degree and community-based organizations. In all, 265 programs from 30 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia competed for the awards.
“FPU is the top program among the 115 baccalaureate applications evaluated. We hope that many more Latino students will join us in this highly successful approach to achieving ‘excelencia’ in education,” said FPU President Richard Kriegbaum, Ph.D.
The FPU STEM program is geared to low-income, Hispanic and/or first-generation students who are academically qualified but need help adjusting to the atmosphere of higher education and the sciences. Started in 2011 with a $3.75 million federal grant and 33 students from FPU and the College of the Sequoias, the program features:
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Summer Bridge. Students come to campus for a week before their freshman year. They get subject preparation, live in residence halls, eat in the cafeteria and meet each other and faculty.
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The cohort. All freshmen participants take four classes together: General Chemistry, Ancient Civilizations, Written Communication and Jesus and the Christian Community (JCC).
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Supplemental instruction. Study sessions are available for General Chemistry, Ancient Civilizations and JCC. Participants are guided by model students, who have already completed the classes but audit them again to support the new students. This activity is open to all students, not just those in the STEM program.
So far the graduation rate for participants has been 91 percent, much higher than expected and above FPU’s overall graduation rate, already one of the strongest in the region. Efforts are being made to spread elements of the STEM program throughout the general freshman experience.
In Washington, D.C., to accept the award for FPU are Karen Cianci, Ph.D., dean of the traditional undergraduate program and the School of Natural Sciences; Kelsey Ryska (a 2007 FPU grad), grant coordinator; 2015 graduates Alicia Cobian and Yaneth Barretto; and current students Michael Smith and Christopher Deleon. Cobian will also be on a panel titled “Listening to Student Voices—Supporting Student Actions” at the ALASS (Accelerating Latino Student Success) Workshop September 23, 2015, also organized by Excelencia in Education. Both events are at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel.
Representatives from FPU are excited by the opportunity to offer a path to deserving students. “It made not just my accomplishments real, but it also emphasized the accomplishments of the university as a whole. The STEM program at FPU definitely deserves the recognition for all the work that it does for us students,” Barretto said.
“It makes our work not only feel validated, but part of a larger story; we are part of a national effort to increase student success. There is so much work to be done, but we have made a difference,” Ryska said.
As a 2015 Example of Excelencia, FPU will:
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Receive a $5,000 award
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Be included in the 2015 edition of What Works for Latino Students in Higher Educationdistributed online to in Education’s more than 12,000 constituents
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Be included in the Growing What Works online database
Excelencia in Education is the only national agency to systematically identify and promote effective, evidence-based efforts that boost Latino enrollment, performance and graduation. Over the past decade, Excelencia in Education has reviewed over 1,300 nominations and recognized more than 150 programs across the nation.
Celebración de Excelencia is presented in collaboration with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The 2015 sponsors are ACT Inc., Comcast NBCUniversal, Telemundo, Univision, DeVry Education Group, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, the Edwin Gould Foundation, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and PG&E Corporation.
More about Excelencia in Education at EdExcelencia.org.