Name: Project CONNECT: Cultivating Opportunities for Nurturing Networks, Enhanced Cohesion, and Transformation

Duration: 10/1/23 - 9/30/28

Amount: $3 Million ($600,000/year for 5 years)

Purpose:

Through this project, GCC will embrace its responsibility to close equity gaps in student outcomes and enact a culture that enhances the educational and racial/ethnic experiences of our Hispanic students to truly become the Hispanic-Serving Institution our students deserve, and our community must have.

Goals:

1. Foster a sense of belonging among prospective and current Hispanic students through early, frequent, and sustained connection to GCC's pathways.
2. Utilize culturally sustaining, equity-minded cohort management strategies to actively case manage Hispanic and low-income students to utilize academic and basic needs supports, improving persistence and timely completion.
3. Increase student outcomes and close equity gaps to ensure alignment with state-mandated performance-based funding focused on student equity and student success.

Strategy #1 – Cultivate Authentic Campus Connections with Students

• Barbershop Talks pop ups foster belonging and encourage authentic, culturally validating human connections for men of color, connecting them to campus resources. The Office of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives will host six Barbershop Talks, leveraging them to create what Dr. Gina Garcia calls “spaces of liberation” for men of color who have been pushed to the margins and pushed out of college. Project CONNECT is hosting six Barbershop Talks this academic year.
• Pedagogy of Real Talk Student Affairs Institute is a professional development opportunity focused on classified professionals and non-instructional faculty working together to develop and refine skill sets for building connections with students outside of the classroom based on The Pedagogy of Real Talk. Through changes in communication and engagement with students, participants will build a holistic approach for a transformational student experience that implements real talk and other PRT components, creating and fostering a sense of belonging. Our time together will be co-constructed, energizing, and full of creativity. It will also be challenging as we evolve as educators within our college community.
• Latinx Family Welcome is a new student celebratory event hosted each fall by the Multicultural & Community Engagement Center. The purpose of the celebratory event is to welcome new students to the campus, build community, and introduce them to campus resources. Project CONNECT is providing financial and academic counseling support for this event.
• Robbin, from the Hood is a reimagined classic tale in which corporate greed dominates the deceptive game of capitalism until 17-year-old math genius Robbin Woods discovers how to level the playing field. Sometimes, you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Project CONNECT is sponsoring this field trip to the Road Theatre and inviting students from the First-Generation Coalition, BIEN in STEM, and Student Equity.
• HSI Collaborative includes students, staff, faculty, and administrators who provide ongoing counsel and support to the Office of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives and Glendale College. The Collaborative advocates for the needs of Latinx students and fosters a culture of servingness (Garcia et al., 2019).
• HSI Student Advisory Board members are paid co-designers within the Office of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives who advocate for policies and initiatives that serve Latinx/e students and other minoritized communities, ensuring that students are at the forefront of the decision-making process. OHSI is looking to recruit 10-12 students to serve as board members.
• OHSI Ambassadors will assist in coordinating HSI outreach, co-designing program activities, marketing, recruiting, and attending various campus leadership meetings for the Office of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives.' Ambassadors also support various academic initiatives, projects, and student support services on campus and receive training and leadership development to support their professional growth. OHSI is looking to hire four ambassadors.

Strategy #2 – Provide Holistic Support Throughout the Student Journey

• School Social Worker (SSW) to design and implement a case management structure that includes Master’s in Social Work (MSW) Interns, which will potentially serve as a model for college basic needs programs.
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) Interns working under our Mental Health Counselor at the Garfield campus to serve GCC’s overwhelmingly Hispanic and low-income adult learners.
• Embedded CARES Program Academic Counselor, specialized in all the regulatory requirements for CARES programs, to work with students on their educational plans and help them maintain eligibility in federal, state, and local basic needs programs.
• Needs-Based Intake Survey embedded into the application and orientation to connect students to services, supports, and opportunities early in the process.
• Peer Mentors as a layer of connection, communication, and community for students embedded in the Vaquero Success Center, focused on referrals to basic needs that improve student retention.
• Oxfam Glendale College Hunger Banquet is a powerful and immersive experience that puts students in the shoes of those facing food insecurity and poverty on a global and local scale. As students enter the Oxfam Glendale College Hunger Banquet, they draw tickets to determine their fate. Will they dine like high-income earners or face the challenges of middle—or low-income earners? This event encourages students to use their voices to tackle global crises and access vital campus and community support to combat food and housing insecurity.
• First Generation Coalition is a learning community for first-generation college students. Cohort participants are invited to special events and encouraged to attend networking opportunities that build community, foster belonging for first-generation students, and receive the appropriate support services as determined by our new needs-based survey.

Strategy #3: Build Sustainable Infrastructure where Hispanic Students Thrive

• First Attempt Initiative is a consistent and uniform intervention that supports at-promise students as soon as they drop a course. The goal is to connect students to a communication network. As students struggle, they are placed into a Network of Care and receive the support (e.g., Academic Counseling, Mental Health, Basic Needs, tutoring, and Mentoring) they need. The Network of Care includes peers, classified professionals, faculty, Graduate Interns, and certified professionals. Project CONNECT's Professional Development and Student Engagement Coordinator, Gabriel Gomez, leads this initiative.
• Coaching Professional Development is a comprehensive professional development program that trains instructors to be coaches and develop meaningful relationships with students. Project CONNECT's Professional Development and Student Engagement Coordinator, Gabriel Gomez, leads this initiative.
• Unified Communications Platform to integrate with our learning management system, Canvas, and other modes of communication to reach students and make meaningful, just-in-time connections.
• Technology Integration Consultant to improve the GCC user experience in our programs so students have a user friendly experience with our application, enrollment, onboarding, and learning platforms.

David Crawford, Activity Director

Email: dcrawford@glendale.edu