Scope: Participant Support: University of Kentucky Student Support Services

The University of Kentucky (UK) was established in 1865 and has a statewide mission to provide educational opportunities for the citizenry of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. UK is a public land-grant, as well as the flagship institution of higher education for the state. UK is also classified as a comprehensive Research I University. The University is integral to the economic and intellectual prosperity of Kentucky''s citizens. As such, the University is committed to attracting and graduating outstanding students. Currently the enrollment for the 2017-18 academic year is 26,913 students, of which 18,942 are undergraduate and 7,925 are graduate/professional students. The proposed SSS project is designed to provide services to eligible undergraduate students whose academic achievements fall below that of non-eligible students. The focus will be on increasing the number of eligible students achieving their baccalaureate degrees and pursuing graduate/professional school. In addition to the normal challenges of transitioning to college, these students must face the additional and overwhelming obstacles associated with coming from counties characterized by high poverty rates, low educational attainment, and few options for broadening social/cultural experiences all of which attest to the non-cognitive concerns many have stated are barriers to graduation. The Student Support Services Program will address these barriers by utilizing services that focus on participants utilizing small group and one-one tutoring (academic coaching), one-one and group peer coaching sessions, and intrusive coaching by professional staff to address advising, academic mindsets and behaviors, and social emotional concerns. The bases of the services will be described in detail in both of the competitive preferences using the following researches: Walton, G.M. and Cohen, G.L. (2011) A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331, 1447-1451; Sedlacek, W.E. (1991) Using non-cognitive variables in advising nontraditional students. NACADA Journal, 11-75-82; and Bettinger, E. and Baker, R. (2011) The effects of student coaching in college: an evaluation of a randomized experiment in student coaching.