WPCC to Empower Students Facing Academic Challenges with New $2 million Federal Grant"

Western Piedmont Community College has received a boost from the U.S. Department of Education to help the school support students who may face challenges completing their postsecondary education.

The local college recently announced it will receive more than $2 million through a Title III grant from the federal government.

The $2,041,759 funding will allow faculty and administrators to focus on reaching key demographic groups. With the funds, WPCC will provide additional guidance, encouragement, mentors, and resources to students as it aims to help them attain their academic goals. 

Title III grants are administered through the federal government’s Strengthening Institutions Program. WPCC’s project will address four significant challenges identified by the school’s grant-writing team:

Low progression and completion for adult students; lower success rates in online classes; an advising model that does not meet the needs of students; and the lack of capacity for an endowment campaign. 

The project’s goals are to increase students’ persistence, retention, and degree completion, while reducing gaps for Black, Hispanic, and Pell Grant eligible students.

The Pell Grant is the largest federal grant program offered to undergraduates and is designed to assist students from low-income households. 

According to Executive Director of the College Foundation Lisa Miller, funding for the Title III grant began in October 2023. The college has already hired several employees, both in full- and part-time positions, to help begin the process of moving the program forward. 

The grant application asked writers to identify what the school needs in order to grow and better serve its constituency. According to Miller, the team is currently identifying gaps in service so they can reach students who need encouragement and help with the college experience.

Plans include a new student-centered orientation. “We’re going to be building a first year experience (for students),” Miller stated. “It's tremendous what this is giving us.”

Annette Benedetti, director of advising, said the grant will also help support the school’s success coaches, a program the college has already seen is effective. 

“We’ve had success coaches since 2020,” Benedetti said, “and the Title III grant helped us hire another coach and an additional advisor.” She explained that every WPCC student (in a curriculum program) has two support systems, an advisor and a success coach.

“They (coaches) reach out to students from the time of application, to help them with onboarding,” she explained. “They follow them through their time here, whatever their goal may be, whether it's ‘I just need to get through a class to feel successful,’ or whether ‘I want to get a degree,’” Benedetti stated. Coaches keep in touch with students and send weekly motivational emails for encouragement. 

Vice President for Student Success and Support Services Susan Berley said, in applying for the grant, one problem WPCC identified was perseverance, following through with completion of a class or program, which is a particular problem with specific demographic groups. 

“In looking at data, our overall persistence rate is comparable or better than the national average,” Berley said. “But once you start disaggregating it, you start realizing it's not the same for everyone. There are certain subpopulations that are not at the same level of persistence as others.”

While the Title III grant will provide targeted help to reach those high-risk populations, college officials plan to use the money to provide positive first-year experiences to all students as well. Organized events will allow students to get to know their success coaches, and connect students with each other and with their faculty. 

An orientation event, followed by subsequent activities throughout the semester. “The first six weeks of a student’s experience are key to making sure they persist beyond that first semester,” Berley said.

According to Miller, one of the most powerful aspects of the grant, a dollar-for-dollar match from grant monies, will help build funding for the college’s foundation. Grant funds will match donations up to $150,000, with all money going directly to support WPCC students.

“I don’t know of any other grant for higher education that would allow you to do that,” Miller stated. “I knew I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity to grow the foundation.

“It can’t be understated how much gratitude we have for this endowment match,” she said. “It’s a 1:1 match and over the five-year period, the max amount that can be utilized for this match is $150,000.”

Miller explained this money will not be used for scholarships, (the school already has more than 100 scholarship opportunities for students) but instead be devoted to student aid and programming.

“I think some students know they want to improve their lives but they don’t know where to start,” Miller stated. “Some haven't had a positive experience in prior learning.

“I think that’s why we all work at this community college,” she added. “It is equitable and it can meet you where you are.”

Berley added, “That’s part of this new advising model – to help meet students where they are, help them with the next steps, whatever that may be, and if something comes up along the way, we can say ‘How can we help you?’”

Sandra Wilkerson Queen is the education and business reporter for The Paper. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, Ext. 2002, or via email at sandra@thepaper.media