Fresno State receives nearly $8 million grant to transform student advising.
The Department of Education awarded nearly $8 million to California State University, Fresno to implement a program that transforms advising to increase the success of all students, especially minority and/or low-income students. The “Strengthening Advising, Strengthening Results (START)” program will develop and deliver ongoing strategic, proactive and individualized advising to students throughout their university journey.
“As a former first-generation, low-income, and underserved student myself, I recognize the positive impact of personalized and sustained advising,” said Samantha Bautista, principal investigator, and a graduate of the university master’s program in Student Affairs and College Counseling. “I have a passion for leveraging this support to underserved students as they pursue their bachelor’s degrees and reach their fullest potential. This program will not only strengthen advising but also contribute to meaningful and intentional connections that can benefit holistic student success.”
The START program was designed based on six research studies that met the Department of Education’s rigorous standards for evidence. The START project also funds an independent evaluator to conduct a randomized controlled trial of 8,500 students to produce credible findings that encourage replication throughout the 23-campus California State University system, the largest system of higher education in the country.
“We are excited to be the recipient of a Department of Education Postsecondary Student Success award to strengthen wrap-around advising services to our underserved students,” said Provost Xuanning Fu, who will chair the START program. “We expect increased course completion rates, higher levels of persistence and accelerated time to earning degrees. The research component will enable adoption not only at the 22 other campuses within the CSU system but also at peer institutions nationwide. Fresno State will be a national model for advising and student success.”
The award enables the university to increase the number of advisers so all advisors have manageable caseloads. The award also provides all advisers with professional development activities to learn evidence-based practices to deliver the sustained, intensive, frequent and personalized advising that has proven effectiveness with students at large public institutions.
The advisers will be supported by technology enhancements, including a central data management system with specialized add-ins for them, as well as alternate dashboards developed by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
“Underrepresented populations are disproportionately huge in the California State University system, so the research findings can have an immense equity and diversity impact,” said Dr. Gil Harootunian, executive director of university initiatives, who was instrumental in designing the START program.“Many low-income, first-generation or minority students face compounding challenges, and they do so without the knowledge bank of continuing generation students. The enhanced advising provides the knowledge bank ― the social ‘know how’― and the support structure needed for greater numbers of these students to be successful in their university journey.”
