Grant awarded to two WMU faculty

Gilbert

Nelson

By Carly Kuppe
Western Herald

A $123,177 grant has been awarded to two Western Michigan University experts from the U.S. Department of Education.

Kathy Gilbert, director of WMU’s Children’s Place Learning Center, and Regena Fails Nelson, professor of teaching, learning, and educational studies, are the principal investigators for this project.

The project, College Assistance for Parenting and Education (CAPE), is a comprehensive student support program that enables low-income college students with children to attain educational goals for themselves and their children, Nelson wrote in an e-mail.

“This comprehensive parent support program provides financial, social, academic and parenting resources for college students with children,” Nelson wrote.

“The program is housed within the university’s child care center whose goal is to provide a safe educational and social environment for parents and children.”

The effectiveness of the program will be determined by parents’ participation in different support activities, grade point averages, and the amount of time it takes to complete their degrees, Nelson wrote.

This project will specifically address the needs most often identified by student-parents.  This includes affordable childcare and social and academic support structures.

“Research shows the level of a student’s engagement is directly related with academic success,” Nelson wrote.

Student-parents will have more access to representatives from various departments within the university such as financial aid, the Academic Skills Center, psychological and career counseling, housing, and cultural activities through Family Fun Nights that are held once a semester at the Learning Center, Nelson wrote.

In addition, participants are expected to be more involved in campus life and increase the degree completion rates by 10 percent as a result of the new structures, Nelson wrote.

Of the student-parents who participated in the CAPE 2005 grant, 36 percent have graduated and 45 percent are progressing toward graduation.

This parent support program, CAPE 2.0, will include opportunities for student-parents to network online as well as face-to-face, Nelson wrote.

“The academic success experienced by these parents led us to develop a model for the 2009 grant that continues to provide the reduced child care tuition and provides increased access to academic and social support services in the university,” Nelson wrote.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=13144

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 9 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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