Fall 2002

Volume 6 Number 1
A publication of Macon State College

BellSouth Foundation Grant to Help More African American Students Graduate from MSC

MSC faculty members Don Brown and Marina Spears will coordinate activities the BellSouth Foundation grant is funding.

African American and other minority college students are statistically less likely than other students to complete their studies and earn a bachelor’s degree four to six years after enrolling, according to a U.S. Department of Education study.

Concern over this trend motivated the BellSouth Foundation Inc. to launch an initiative to help colleges and universities guide minority students toward their four-year degrees. As part of a strategic program called “Gaining Ground,” the Foundation recently awarded a $105,000 grant to each of five institutions in the Southeast that have programs aimed at keeping minorities in college.

The BellSouth Foundation awarded one of the grants to the Macon State College Foundation, which plans to use the funds beginning this fall to offer mentoring, tutoring and other support services to minority students. Dr. Myra Jackson, an MSC psychology professor with longtime involvement in minority student achievement, came up with the project idea.

“BellSouth is pleased to be partnering with Macon State College in this critical area of higher education needs,” said Terry Smith, BellSouth regional manager. “Greater minority student persistence and success are vital for this region if we want to compete in a global economy. This program developed by Macon State College and supported by the BellSouth Foundation will hopefully impact this objective.”

Two MSC faculty members, Don Brown, an assistant professor of math, and Marina Spears, an English instructor, will coordinate program activities, aimed at intervening with more African American students to make sure they stay in school and complete their bachelor’s degrees.

Here is a look at some of the specific activities Macon State is developing using BellSouth grant funds:

• As African American students move into the upper-division courses of Macon State’s bachelor’s degree programs, provide more tutoring and technological resources focused on those specialized classes.

• Through an “Excel Program,” hire African American students with grade point averages of 3.0 and higher to serve as “Best Buddies/Peer Tutors” to other students, matching declared majors as much as possible. In addition to tutoring, these academically strong students will be a resource to students who may still be bewildered by the “college system.” Students in the Excel Program will also be given opportunities to participate in book clubs, museum visits and social/
cultural excursions.

• The “Steering Program,” focused on students with GPAs of 2.0 to 2.9, and the “Upward Flight” program, for those with GPAs of 1.9 and lower, will provide tutoring and workshops appropriate to the needs of each group. The goal will be to move those students to the Excel Program.

• In the “Vanishing Student” program, coordinators will contact students who disappear early in the semester to determine their problems and find solutions.
All students in the various programs will be offered an opportunity to spend a day with a Macon State faculty member as a means of increasing student/faculty interaction and making students more comfortable in a college environment.

Macon State’s goal is to have at least half of African American students participating in the program to move from their sophomore to junior years, which increases the likelihood they will graduate with baccalaureate degrees within six years of beginning college.