Achieving the Dream program

Odessa College is one of 20 community colleges in seven states accepted this year into a national program geared toward greater student success.

The Achieving the Dream program is designed especially for low-income and minority students and is provided in part by a grant from The Greater Texas Foundation, but funding levels will be determined at a later date after an initial review of college data. Achieving the Dream focuses on what changes institutions can make to increase the odds of students staying and graduating.

"The interesting thing about this grant is you apply and they have a team that works with you and then they determine your amount of money," OC Director of Media Relations and Publications Cheri Dalton said.

The initiative was announced at a news conference Monday afternoon. President Gregory Williams said the college will benefit from a partnership with Achieving the Dream.

"We can do better, and we will more closely examine ourselves and what we do," Williams said.

Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Special Projects Tanya Hughes said the college will build a database with information on the school's students going back three or four years, detailing issues like enrollment status, age, completion status, ethnicity, gender, family size and economic status.

The first visit from a team at Achieving the Dream will be in September. They will provide guidance on strategies.

"They know what works and will give lots of direction on how to proceed," Hughes said.

Executive Director of Enrollment Management Trey Wetendorf said the data from the two-year grant will help the college correct problems and find out whether its existing retention strategies work. For example, OC has started an early alert system to intervene with students who don't attend class or struggle in class. Orientation will change this fall to add courses helping students learn how to succeed in college. The grant will just focus their efforts.

"This grant is like a new pair of vision goggles," Wetendorf said.

GRANT STUDY

Here are some of the types of student information the Achieving the Grant study will examine at Odessa College to learn more about why students drop out or are not successful:

>> Age.

>> Gender.

>> Completion status.

>> Enrollment status.

>> Ethnicity.

>> Family size.

>> Economic status.