Inside Higher Ed profiles UC's College Possible coaching program
Inside Higher Ed spotlights the work UC is doing to provide extra support for the growing number of students who are the first in their families to attend college
Last year, the University of Cincinnati became the first institution in Ohio to launch the Catalyze program, an initiative of College Possible, a nonprofit AmeriCorps organization focused on helping low-income students get admitted to, and graduate from, college through an intensive curriculum of coaching and support.
Now, Inside Higher Ed profiles the university’s successes with Catalyze in a feature story on the program, currently in use by nine colleges and universities nationwide — four private and five public.
The initiative pairs first-generation A&S students who are Pell Grant recipients with “success coaches” — recent college graduates who mentor students as they navigate what can be a complicated college maze.
Lisa Holstrom, senior assistant dean of UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences who’s quoted throughout in the story, notes that UC saw a 5 percent increase in semester-to-semester persistence from students assigned a coach from fall 2018 to spring 2019, compared to low-income first-year students from fall 2017 to fall 2018.
The story also features Alison Trimbur, a 2018 UC alumna with a political science degree who served as a coach in the 2018-2019 academic year, and UC student Latasha Hamner, a sophomore majoring in digital media at UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.
Read the story here.
Featured image at top: Incoming UC Arts and Sciences success coaches and their supervisor, from left to right: Nadya Streicher, Jayla Means, Pamela Rogers, Paige Visagie, and Maurisha Whitlow. UC/Beth Vleaminck
Related Stories
UC 1819 Innovation Hub workshop spreads AI awareness
June 28, 2024
Microsoft and Disrupt Now joined forces to run a June 24-27 seminar at UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub teaching Cincinnati residents how to responsibly use AI.
Free Wi-Fi, work area coming to Greater Cincinnati
June 27, 2024
St. Lawrence Park in Price Hill now has free Wi-Fi and a furnished outdoor space for community members to access digital needs. The space is part of The Nodes Project, which stands for “Neighborhoods of Design Engagement": a collaboration between UC DAAP communication designers and community entities.
UC alum credits journalism program with early success
June 26, 2024
Zachary Jarrell came to the University of Cincinnati in 2019 to pursue a degree in statistics. In 2023, he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Journalism. For many undergraduates, the journey through college rarely takes the expected track. Detours happen, and majors change. When plans switch up, it can be helpful to a student’s success to find support. For Jarrell, it was the people he worked alongside in the journalism department who helped him on his journey. It has left a lasting impression on his life so far, guiding him to multiple internships as an undergraduate, real-world experience in prominent news outlets, and eventually a successful career in the highly competitive field of journalism.