ICAC Completes College

The Illinois College Advising Corps (ICAC) has recently been awarded with a grant from Texas Guaranteed (TG) for a retention model. The proposed two-year project aims to scale ICAC’s near-peer mentoring model to the college level by launching a persistence initiative with former College Advisers as Retention Coaches. Retention Coaches will support students served by ICAC as they transition from year one to year two of college, with a longitudinal aim of ensuring degree attainment. Like their student cohort, Retention Coaches will also be earning their college credentials—a Master’s degree—which allows the student and Retention Coach to share a dual college experience. This model will be launched for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Mission

To improve post-secondary retention rates among ICAC students from low-income families enrolled in Illinois public universities and community colleges by creating Retention Coach positions.

Goal

To ensure students served by ICAC progress from year one to year two of college, with a reenrollment rate of 60% each year of the project.

Objectives

  1. Consult college retention experts for training and develop retention strategies to create a foundation for assisting students.
  2. Establish communication and build alliances with on-campus and community student support organizations (i.e. academic, financial aid, first-year transition programs) to serve as advocates and liaisons for the students and family.
  3. Communicate with students through the e-mentoring platform—the Ning website—to share post-secondary success tips, student support resources and nourish one-on-one interactions.
  4. Compose a directory of the Family Advocate Network, a database of students’ primary support (parent, grandparent, guardian, sibling, mentor, etc) to educate on student support practices.
  5. Verify student enrollment in a post-secondary institution.
  6. Meet with student and advocate at an organized ICAC community activity, a scheduled one-on-one interaction, or summer orientation to better cultivate a near-peer relationship and build a trusting rapport with the student’s advocate.
  7. Conduct ICAC community events to provide students with special topics (i.e. financial literacy, effective study practices, and college behavioral success) and build a social support among ICAC students.
  8. Introduce the retention model to seniors of ICAC service high schools to begin bridging the transition from high school to college and initiate the near-peer relationship. 

Projected Case Load Distribution

For the AY11-12, six Retention Coaches will track ICAC students attending a public university or community college in Illinois. The student cohort has been calculated using a geographic case distribution to compliment these six positions.