Department of Education awards San Jacinto College $3 million grant

Nov 7, 2019Torrie Hardcastle
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PASADENA, Texas — The U.S. Department of Education has awarded San Jacinto College a $3 million Title V grant for the College's Integrated Planning and Advising System (IPAS).

The grant will enable San Jacinto College to implement key strategic initiatives and to enhance institutional capacity to improve outcomes for Hispanic students and other underrepresented populations served by the College.

"Over the last several years, San Jacinto College has been focused on helping students achieve their educational goals by removing barriers to their success both inside and outside the classroom," said Joanna Zimmermann, San Jacinto College's associate vice chancellor of student services. "This grant builds on the work that we have been doing and will help us provide significant support for our students."

The five-year project, led by Zimmermann, aims to enhance institutional advising capacity and delivery with bilingual and evidence-based student success strategies underpinned by technology-mediated solutions to streamline communication and access to information across San Jacinto College campuses to create the IPAS.

Key project activities will be implemented throughout the project timeline, including:

  • Redesigning the advising model to include virtual advising
  • Hiring additional San Jacinto College advisors
  • Optimizing and extending existing IT software solutions via a new student portal
  • Improving student-faculty communication with an institutionally-funded CRM system
  • Facilitating faculty and staff training development around the new advising model, curricula restructure, and IT capabilities

"This grant will provide necessary resources to assist in the development of an onboarding and advising process that is personalized, tailored to individual student needs, and delivered by a team of professionals who are dedicated to each student's success," Zimmermann said. "Our goal is to develop a student-centered, intentional, timely, proactive experience that seamlessly brings together onboarding, academic, career, financial, and social supports, including improved software and communication tools that will reach students where they are on their unique journey. We are very excited about the tremendous impact that these funds will have on our college and on our students."

San Jacinto College is currently ranked as the nation's No. 4 community college for Hispanic students, with Hispanic or Latino students accounting for 60% of the College's overall student population.

About San Jacinto College

Surrounded by monuments of history, industries, and maritime enterprises of today, and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the citizens of East Harris County, Texas, since 1961. The College is fiscally sound, holding bond ratings of AA and Aa2 by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. San Jacinto College is a 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Top 10 institution, a 2017 Aspen Prize Rising Star Award recipient, and an Achieving the Dream Leader College. The College serves approximately 45,000 credit and non-credit students annually, and offers eight areas of study that put students on a path to transfer to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. San Jacinto College's impact on the region totals $1.3 billion in added income, which supports 13,044 jobs.

For more information about San Jacinto College call 281-998-6150, visit sanjac.edu or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.