IU receives grant to boost retention rates

More than a half million dollars will be awarded to six IU campuses across the state from the Lumina Foundation for Education. IU-East in Richmond, IU-Kokomo, IU-Northwest in Gary, IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne, IU-South Bend and IU-Southeast in New Albany have all been selected to receive aid to improve student retention and degree attainment.\nThe Lumina Foundation, a private and independent foundation based in Indianapolis works to help develop education among undeserved student groups -- especially adult learners.\n"Many students hit a variety of academic, financial and social roadblocks on their way to graduation," said Martha D. Lamkin, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. \nNine campuses across the state received grants. In addition to the six IU campuses, Purdue-Calumet in Hammond, Purdue-North Central of Westville and University of Southern Indiana in Evansville also will receive aid.\n"The whole idea behind the grants to the various campuses of the major flagship institutions is that a great number of students go to regional campuses as part-time students, adult students or as students who have other factors which make them considered at risk to complete their studies," said Executive Vice President for Programs and Communication and Chief Operating Officer Susan Conner of the Lumina Foundation. "The idea behind the grants is to help improve service to these students so they can improve retention rates and completion rates."\nThe foundation center requests proposals from all eligible campuses in the state and a panel of judges reviews the proposals and selects the grant recipients. \nThe President's Fund for Student Success in the First and Second Years of College, the Lumina program awarding the grants, has awarded money to IU before.\nThe program awarded grants to private, independent colleges across Indiana in its first year. Last year, grants were awarded to bigger, public research schools like IU, and this year the grants were offered to regional campuses.\nThe school's plan to start programs to help students, especially freshmen and sophomores, non-traditional students and minorities. \n"We're going to work with three student populations -- Twenty-First Century Scholars, minority students and adults ages 25-39," said June Huggins, director for the Center for Mentoring and Student Outreach at IU-S. \n"We're going to hire peer mentors to work with them," she said. "We did research on students we wanted to assist at the college level who we wanted to retain once they got here."\nThe other schools have similar programs in place or in the works, such as IPFW's first-year experience program. That program is designed to assist students through skills workshops, computer training and academic and career advising.\n-- Contact assistant copy chief Brittany Hite at bhite@indiana.edu.