Texas Southern University News Texas Southern University Launching Urban Academic Village with $2.74 Million Funding from Houston Endowment Houston Endowment has awarded a $2.74 million grant to Texas Southern University (TSU) to conduct a pilot study of the University’s new Urban Academic Village, a freshman and sophomore enhancement program to improve retention and increase graduation rates. “The support of Houston Endowment allows us to begin this critical study, which is the bedrock of our changing undergraduate program,” said TSU President John M. Rudley. “The results we obtain from this pilot study over the next two-and-a-half years will allow us to fully develop new academic enhancement services and revamp the undergraduate experience for all of our students going forward. “We are particularly grateful to Houston Endowment for their endorsement of this important program and of the changes that have taken place at Texas Southern over the past 3 years,” Rudley said. “Houston Endowment is glad to assist Texas Southern University as it commits to improve the academic success of its undergraduate students,” said Houston Endowment President Larry R. Faulkner. “President Rudley has chosen an ambitious, thoughtful approach toward this central concern of any university.” To prepare Texas Southern freshmen to pursue their degree plan to graduation, the University’s new Urban Academic Village is a holistic, student-centered, 24/7 academic community approach concerned with the academic performance, mental well-being, emotional stability and personal growth of freshmen and sophomore students on campus. Research has shown that students are most vulnerable to dropping out of college in the first and second years with 75 percent of college dropouts occurring between the freshman and sophomore years. This national data has proved true at Texas Southern which currently sees nearly a third of all freshmen leaving at the end of the first year. In addition to providing students with enhanced academic services, the Urban Academic Village will provide an array of activities intended to amplify student engagement. Programs that improve student engagement with their peers, faculty and the broader university community have been shown to have a positive effect on academic success and degree completion. The pilot program will renovate an existing residence hall to provide 24/7 academic support, institute new intervention and evaluation programs, and develop additional tutoring, mentoring and extra-curricular programming to better integrate freshmen into campus life. The plan calls for redesigning an existing residence hall to add expanded common areas, computer labs, and faculty and counselor apartments providing 24/7 faculty and staff support for 400 incoming freshmen. During spring 2011 the university will review best retention and student success practices from across the country to develop the full enhancement program that will launch in August 2011. The program will begin fully next fall with approximately 1/3 of the 2011 freshman class living in the new hall and receiving enhanced academic support and intervention as needed. These students will be closely tracked through their sophomore year with additional support systems being instituted as they transition from the freshman residence hall community into the larger TSU campus. Lessons learned from the first year will be implemented with the second group of freshmen entering in fall 2012. Dr. Sunny Ohia, TSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research, is overseeing the project. The grant will cover $1 million in renovations for the residence hall and $1.74 million to develop and implement the academic enhancement and evaluation programs. All students participating in the pilot will be full-time students who meet the basic admissions requirements to attend Texas Southern. The students will commit to continuing as full-time students and to participating in all enhancement and outreach activities throughout the two years of the study. A total of 800 students will participate in the pilot program and their progress will be tracked through their sophomore year. Their grades, retention and persistence data will be monitored and compared to the rest of the 2011 and 2012 freshman classes. ##### Houston Endowment, a philanthropic foundation established in 1937 by Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones, supports nonprofit organizations and educational institutions that improve life for the people of greater Houston. Since its inception, the foundation has donated more than $1.4 billion to help create a community where the opportunity to thrive is available to all. Texas Southern University was founded in 1927 and became a state institution in 1947. Texas Southern possesses an impressive array of more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs, a diverse faculty, and more than 80 student organizations, including a Division 1 Athletics program with the 2010 SWAC Football Champions. TSU’s alumni network comprised of educators, entrepreneurs, public servants, lawyers, pilots, artists, and more, many of whom are change agents on the local, national and international stage. Nestled upon a sprawling 150-acre campus, Texas Southern has served as a cornerstone for developing the greatest potential in leaders from various socioeconomic, cultural, and racial backgrounds. Texas Southern is located in the heart of the city, giving its students and faculty easy access to the Museum District, neighboring educational institutions, the Texas Medical Center, downtown Houston, two major airports and all of the city’s major freeways. More than 9,500 students, along with more than 1,500 faculty and staff comprise the University’s community making it one of the nation’s largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). For more information, visit www.tsu.edu.<http://www.tsu.edu./> SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.