It’s good to see Gannon get a big grant like this – one that will affect lower income students get an education and get out of the cycle of poverty. Grants like this are a good first step, but ultimately it’s up to the student to put the effort and work in to succeed. Services like tutoring and other academic support are big helps to be sure.
Gannon University has been awarded a Student Support Services (SSS) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant is renewable for up to five years for an overall total of $1.1 million.
The first year of the grant is for $220,000. The grant, the first of its kind ever awarded to Gannon, will allow the University to expand and enhance the academic support services it offers to students. Of the institutions applying for the grants, Gannon was one of a small number to be chosen as first-time recipients.
“Gannon is truly honored that the U.S. Department of Education has recognized the University’s focused efforts on expanding academic support services for students by making it one of only 117 new institutions out of a total of 1,026 that received a Student Support Services grant this year,” said Gannon University President Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D.
“This competitive award is being made at a perfect time as we formally open our new Student Success Center, which will increase academic and tutoring services for our students.”
The 13,000-square-foot Student Success Center includes the Academic Advising Center (AAC), Programs for Students with Learning Disabilities, Math Center, and Writing Center, among others. Those programs previously were spread across campus; but they are now housed together on the first floor of the University’s Palumbo Academic Center, 824 Peach St.
The Center thus represents for students a true “one-stop shop” of support services and resources, such as tutoring, mentoring, internship placement assistance, and academic advising. Specifically, the grant will fund tracking software, assessment tools and programs, and professional development of the Center’s staff. The Center also will be able to hire additional peer tutors.
As a result, the Center will be able to more effectively deliver support services. The Center’s many components also will be better able to collaborate and share information, which in turn will result in more students making use of its programs and resources.
Through the grant, the Student Success Center will seek to increase persistence, academic performance, and graduation rates.
Gannon will achieve these goals through support services such as tutoring, academic and career advising, personal counseling, and leadership development, among others. The Student Success Center will also serve as a repository of information for students interested in applying to and obtaining financial support for their undergraduate education as well as graduate school.
The SSS grant will be particularly important because of the University’s number of low-income and first-generation students. About two-thirds of all Gannon undergraduates qualify for some level of need-based financial aid.
“Part of our responsibility as an institution is being proactive and identifying the students who require a higher level of individualized attention and services,” Adkins continued. “This grant will help ensure that we meet our obligation to these students in supporting their holistic development.”
