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Increasing Success: Creating Replicable New Strategies for Retention and College Graduation in Stark County Request for Proposals

Overview This RFP is open to Stark County two-year open access institutions of higher education defined as Stark State College of Technology and Kent State University Stark Campus. Proposals from these institutions must collaborate with at least one of the high schools from Stark County’s 17 public school districts or R.G. Drage. Collaborative plans with multiple high schools are encouraged. A joint collaboration between SSCT and Kent Stark and multiple high schools on a single proposal through the Stark County Educational Service Center will also be considered. The primary objective of the RFP process is to increase retention rates in Stark County colleges through two defined outcomes. Proposals must address one or both outcomes:

1. Remediation: Successful completion of meaningful remedial college coursework or the elimination for the need for remediation.

2. Adequate academic intensity: a first year goal of at least 20 college credits

Seventy-five thousand ($75,000) of new funding, including $50,000 in grant funds and $25,000 of Stark Education Partnership (SEP) funds will provide an opportunity for funding collaborative proposals that link a Stark County two year open enrollment college(s) and one or more school districts to the development and implementation of new break-through strategies or the scaling of emerging Stark County practices for increasing retention and on-time graduation. Background The need for the RFP process itself was envisioned by a local Stark County College Success Partnership created last spring as part of an Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) project. That partnership included college retention practitioners from several local institutions, the Stark County Education Service Center (SCESC), K-12 District Curriculum Directors, High School Guidance Counselors, College Access Advisors in area high schools and SEP.

Increasing Success: Creating Replicable New Strategies for Retention and Graduation in Stark County RFP

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As part of the planning process, the College Success Partnership created a transparent map of current education practices, gaps, best practices and promising strategies that would provide guideposts for allocation of resources (see Appendix A.). The map shows immense real and potential resources as well as gaps in Stark County’s knowledge and capacity to support college access and success. One of the most frequent topics of discussion within the partnership as these challenges presented by the map were discussed was how to effectively align the work of area high schools and higher education institutions to promote and support student success and degree completion. Period of Funding Proposals will be funded for a two-year period. Preparing and Submitting the Proposal Date Due: Proposals must be electronic (in Word or pdf format) and may be mailed, hand delivered or e-mailed by noon on Monday April 14, 2008 to: Adele Gelb - College Access Director The Stark Education Partnership, Inc. 400 Market Avenue North, Suite B-Plaza Canton, Ohio 44702

[email protected]

Award announcements will be made by Friday, May 23, 2008 with programs to start on June 9, 2008. Completed applications must contain the following sections in the order provided: A) Cover Page To include project title, listing of submitting and collaborating organizations, requested

amount, name and contact information for project director or primary contact, and institutional approval from the college president or dean (See Appendix B.).

B) Proposal Narrative The Proposal Narrative must not exceed ten (10) double-spaced pages and must be paginated

and printed in 12-point font (Times or Times New Roman) with one-inch margins on all sides. The cover page (Appendix B), budget forms, budget narrative and appendixes will not be counted in the ten (10) page maximum.


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1) Partnership and Strategies: Provides a detailed description of the partnership/ collaboration and a description of the problem(s) to be addressed. Indicate what strategies or scale up the partnership/collaborative will use to address that problem(s) and why you feel they will be effective. Strategies should impact at least 150 students, preferably 250.

2) Need Statement: Define the need for the proposed new strategy or scale up of practice.

Identify the population(s) to be served and explain how the proposed approach matches the need of the population(s). Please include demographics, educational statistics and other data that support the need statement.

3) Outcomes and Objectives: Describe how the proposed new strategy or scale up of

practice will specifically address one or both of the outcomes listed below:

• Remediation: Successful completion of meaningful remedial college coursework or the elimination for the need for remediation.

• Adequate academic intensity: a first year goal of at least 20 college credits

Specify and list the objectives you hope to achieve in pursuing the outcome(s). 4) Method(s) of Implementation:

• Describe the implementation process and the means (specific steps) you will use to achieve the selected outcome(s)/ objectives. The plan should include the rationale for why these steps will help you reach your stated objectives.

• Indicate the specific role of each partner in implementing the proposed new strategy or scale-up of practice.

5) Timeline and Responsibilities for the Project: Using the following chart as a guide, list

the activities that will be undertaken to achieve the stated objectives, indicating the organization and persons responsible for carrying them out, and the timeline for each.

Activity Organization Person(s) Responsible

Targeted Objective Timeline

6) Evaluation: Provide benchmarks for success, noting outcomes the partners plan to

achieve. Indicate how will you know when success is achieved? Outcomes should be both qualitative and quantitative and should detail how data will be collected. Grantees will be required to collect data and report to the Stark Education Partnership.

7) Budget: Each partnership/collaboration will present a detailed budget (see Appendix C)

for the use of funds over the two year period of the grant.


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8) Appendices, Letters of Support: Applicants may include additional appendices including supporting information within reason. Applicants are further cautioned that the purpose of such appendices are to clarify, not replace, the narrative and that scoring will be based solely on the narrative. Letters of support from the partners/collaboration are encouraged.

Proposal Content Collaborating partners should exercise maximum creativity in both identifying and addressing problems related to college retention and graduation pursuant to the established outcomes. The following are meant to be examples of possible strategies/approaches. Proposals might address one or more of the following problems: Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) research shows that “students who successfully complete all remedial courses (54% of all remedial course takers) at Ohio’s public colleges and universities do almost as well in the second year as students who did not take any remedial courses. They return to college in the second year at about the same rate, the pass rates for credits taken are about the same and the average grade point average is about the same.” (OBR; The Performance Report for Ohio's Colleges and Universities, 2006). Stark County two-year open enrollment access institutions are asked to collaborate with high schools in creating and implementing new best practices or scaling emerging practices to prompt or insure the successful completion of meaningful remedial coursework. What might a successful proposal look like in this instance? A school district and a two year college program might decide to administer the Compass test and then to do a bridge program during the second half of the senior year that allows students to complete the remediation necessary while still in high school. OBR also recently released a first draft version of a new report entitled: First Annual Report on The Condition of Higher Education in Ohio: Meeting the State’s Future Needs. Research in that document shows that one of the most important characteristics of effective first year college programs is ‘intensity.’ Newly enrolled students have a much greater chance of completing a degree if they take a substantial number of academic credits early in their academic careers. Earning less than 20 credits in the first calendar year following post secondary entry lessens the probability of completing a bachelor’s degree by a third. Intensity is one of the factors supporting persistence and Stark County two-year, open enrollment institutions in collaboration with at least one Stark County high school might work to meet this first year goal of at least 20 credits. What might a successful proposal look like in this instance? Multiple Stark County school districts in partnership with a two-year college might decide to create a program where registration for intense coursework is conducted during the second semester of the senior year with participation of professionals from the high school and college. Students would be engaged


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in a new kind of bridge program where some of the readings from the first semester would be pursued with high school teachers during the second semester in applicable settings.

Proposal Review The Stark Education Partnership will lead an advisory board comprised of non-participating members of the Stark County College Success Partnership in evaluating grant proposals and will provide technical support, oversight and strategy evaluation. A representative of the Ohio College Access Network will observe the work of the board. The scoring criteria listed below will be used by the College Success Partnership in scoring proposals. Ninety points are possible.

College Success Partnership Implementation Grant – Scoring Criteria

Narrative and Program Criteria Strengths Weaknesses Points Awarded

(0-5) Provides a detailed description of the partnership/collaboration

Problem to be addressed is clearly articulated

Introduction

Strategies or scale up the partnership/collaborative will use to address that problem(s) is defined along with indications as to why they will be effective.

The population to be served is clearly defined

Specific needs of the population are documented through statistics/demographic information

Need Statement

The proposed strategy or scale up matches the described needs


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Narrative and Program Criteria Strengths Weaknesses Points Awarded

(0-5) Objectives and Outcomes

Proposed strategy/scale up is aligned with the stated outcomes of the RFP

How the strategy/scale up addresses the outcome(s) is clearly detailed

Specific conditions under the outcomes were addressed

Means and specific steps to address outcomes/ objectives are outlined

Methods of Implementation

Rationale for the steps are included and articulated

Timeline and Responsibilities

Activities/responsibilities/ timeline is included and adequately detailed

Benchmarks are matched with outcomes

Success indicators are defined

Qualitative and quantitative evaluation strategies are indicated

Evaluation

How data will be collected is specified

Budget conforms with requested format/ permissible expenditures

Budget

Budget items bear direct relevance to the needs of the program


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Appendix A – Stark County P-16 Compact Map of College Access and Support


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Appendix B – Cover Sheet

Stark Education Partnership

Increasing Success: Creating Replicable New Strategies for Retention and College Graduation in Stark County

Project Title: __________________________________________________________________

Submitting Organization: ________________________________________________________

Collaborating Organization(s): ____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Amount of Request: ____________________________________________________________ Project Director: _______________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________

Grant Contact (if different from Project Director): _________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________

Institutional Approval (President or Dean) _________________________________________ ___________________ Signature Date


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Appendix C – Budget Form

Date: ___________to__________ Prepared By:

Title:

Telephone #:

College Success Retention Project Name:

Category Budgeted Amount

Salaries (Key and Support)

Benefits

Travel

Materials & Supplies

Contractual Services

Other Direct Costs (please explain)

TOTAL

NOTE: Please attach a separate Budget Narrative page explaining all above listed expenditures


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Budget Narrative Format Budget Narrative Instructions and Format – On a separate page, use the following budget narrative format to provide detailed budget information to support each of the line items in the budget for the college success partnership planning. Salaries (Key and Support) – Name the individual(s) and/or their titles and provide % of time x annual salary for each. Benefits – Provide the total salaries subject to fringe benefits x established rate (indicate). (If different rates are used, break these out per individual) Travel – Break out costs by purpose of the travel. Materials and Supplies – Includes expendable office, meeting, and/or educational materials and supplies in support of the project. Contractual Services – Includes contracted professional services and any sub awards to partner institutions or organizations necessary for the college success partner planning. Other Direct Costs – Includes services such as computer services/web support, space rental, meeting costs not included in the materials and supplies category, phone/fax/postage, and printing. NOTE: Indirect Costs are not allowed in this grant.

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