Empire State University Office of Opportunity Programs Awarded IMPACT Grant

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - July 25, 2023) The Office of Opportunity Programs at Empire State University was awarded a $10,000 Liaison IMPACT Grant to help fund student success initiatives. The Liaison IMPACT Grant is an employee-funded initiative dedicated to helping customers of ICYMI support the success of their students and drive better outcomes on their campuses.

This year, five grants ranging from $5,000-$20,000 were awarded out of 500 applications.

Grants were awarded to projects that:

· Impact historically underserved or underrepresented student communities/populations

· Take an innovative approach to increasing student engagement, improve the student experience and/or drive better student outcomes

· Are repeatable and sustainable

Dana Brown, senior director of enrichment and opportunity programs, Asia Moore, opportunity program advisor, Dilanthi Graham, Empire Promise program advisor, George Lopez, assistant director of opportunity programs, Nico Mendez, assistant director of the Empire Promise program and Ted Mallwitz, assistant director of the SUNY Educational Opportunity Program and the Empire State Opportunity Program (EOP and ESOP) all collaborated to write the grant.

The Office of Opportunity Programs plans to use this grant in three areas: certifying 10 students to become online student leaders and 10 more to become peer mentors, expanding academic coaching and embedded course support, and setting up a reserve for opportunity program students to fund emergency needs for course supplies.

According to Brown, the 20 students being certified as online student leaders and peer mentors will help build out the online community for opportunity program students.

“They’re places where a student can connect with other people who are in opportunity programs. It can be difficult to do that when you're in an asynchronous online community,” she said. “We know that students who are engaged are more likely to persist to graduation.”

The academic coaching and course support are part of a larger goal to partner with the Office of Academic Support to ensure dedicated student support.

“This grant money would take it a step further so that we can partner with the Office of Academic Support to have somebody intervene and work with our students in a hands-on way on skills like organization, prioritization, and time management,” Brown said.

The final component will be building out a reserve fund for cases where the cost of a textbook, lab kit, or other supplies is a barrier to taking a class for a student. Being able to fulfill that need immediately without having to source the funding elsewhere will allow more students to take courses they need.

Brown sees improving connection as the ultimate goal of the grant.

“SUNY Empire can help students achieve whatever definition of success they have,” Brown said. “In higher education, the goal is always graduation — but that's not necessarily how our students define success. It's our role to understand how they define success and help them achieve that every day and every semester, and to keep empowering them.”

Read more about the IMPACT Grant here.