Long Beach, Calif. – Greater Texas Foundation (GTF) is providing funding to the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) to implement its Caring Campus program at 10 community colleges in Texas. GTF is a private foundation which envisions a state where all students have equal opportunity to access and succeed in postsecondary education.
The newly announced $597,754 grant will fund two rounds of implementation starting in fall 2022 and extending through 2023. Two cohorts of five community colleges each will be selected for participation. The participating colleges may implement the Caring Campus program for faculty or staff. There is little to no resource commitment required of the colleges.”
“Caring Campus uses a unique coaching method resulting in campus wide involvement of faculty and of staff, engaging a representative group to develop and plan for implementation of behavioral commitments,” said IEBC President and CEO Brad Phillips.“The goal is to increase students’ connectedess, sense of belonging, and overall success by implementing specific behaviors leading to cultural shifts on campus,” explained Phillips.
More than 70 colleges are currently implementing Caring Campus across the country. They have seen improvements in course retention and success, increased term to term persistence, and improved completion and transfer. Achievement gaps are being closed rapidly among demographic groups. Job satisfaction and relationships between staff, faculty and leadership also improve.
“We hear a lot of words about meeting students where they are,” said Phillips. “This is especially true for first-time-in-college students and non-majority students who need a staff or faculty member to exhibit care. After all, educators are working hard to reduce inequality and increase student success for all students. Caring Campus really puts this into action.”
“A positive, student-centered campus culture has tremendous power to influence student success,” said Sue McMillin, President and CEO of Greater Texas Foundation. “That is why we are supporting IEBC to implement Caring Campus at Texas community colleges to help grow, enrich, and support their efforts in this space.”
Caring Campus recognizes and leverages the value of connectedness to increase the likelihood that students will continue towards, and succeed in attaining, their educational goals. Faculty and staff interactions with students can set the stage for successful enrollment, persistence, and completion. It is particularly important for students from historically underserved populations and students less familiar with college to feel welcome and that they belong in college.
About the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC)
IEBC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping education stakeholders — community colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, employers and others — use coaching, collaboration and data to make informed decisions and craft solutions that improve practice and dramatically increase student success. We partner with our clients to successfully implement customized evidence-based solutions to today’s most pressing issues. Learn more about IEBC at www.iebcnow.org
About Greater Texas Foundation
Greater Texas Foundation is a private foundation based in Bryan, Texas that supports efforts to ensure all Texas students are prepared for, have access to, persist in, and complete a postsecondary education. Since its 2001 inception, the foundation has approved more than $115 million in grants to support Texas students. For more information, visit www.greatertexasfoundation.org.