7.1 Action Item: Leverage existing partnerships with schools to recruit students from underrepresented groups across the state.

Status: In Progress

Summary:

• The Longhorn Center for School Partnerships is engaging this work through a variety of programs. Pre-College Academic Readiness Programs (PCARP) currently works with 24 Title I schools across the state of Texas, and is working to partner with additional schools in the DFW region with an identified need.
• UT Outreach began its long-standing presence in five cities: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio. The UT Outreach Centers provide a comprehensive college preparatory program for selected students in targeted high schools. Group and individual services are designed to enhance a student’s academic success in high school and to increase admissibility to their chosen college. Currently, UT Outreach works to connect with students through classrooms visits, school assemblies, class meetings, parent meetings, lunch hours, summer programs, student orientations, as well as at college and career fairs
• The University Interscholastic League has long-standing relationships with every school district in the state and has added several new competitions to engage more diverse students including mariachi, robotics, and programming competitions.
• The Office of Admissions and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement have partnered with RaiseMe, a service that connects students from Title I high schools to an opportunity to earn scholarships for positive academic performance during their high school years.

   

7.2 Action Item: Partner with community colleges for increased pipeline opportunities for students around the state.

Status: Planning

Summary:

• The Provost’s Office is exploring options to help meet this goal.
• Project MALES and The Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color represent a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and numerous community colleges and high schools across the state. Their work focuses on mentoring young men of color, sharing research, and disseminating best practices to improve educational outcomes. 

7.3 Action Item: Implement success programs that create pathways from pre-college academic readiness efforts to post-secondary education.

Status: In Progress

Summary:

• Pre-College Academic Readiness Programs (PCARP) continues to develop and implement successful programs that foster college readiness and provide opportunities to receive college credit for students from Title I high schools across Texas. These students take rigorous college courses in their high-school environment.  More than 90% of students agree that PCARP programs positively prepared them for college.
• The Neighborhood Longhorns Program includes 35 Austin area schools and educational programs with students from each of these campuses. The program also hosts several on-campus events, bringing Neighborhood Longhorn Program students to College for a Day events.
• UT Outreach Houston staff has implemented college readiness success programs for participating students, including weekly in-school meetings, college tours, college application and financial aid workshops, scholarship workshops, and more.
• A crucial step in increasing student success is identifying the students who are most at risk of struggling with persistence. Predictive analytics calculate the likelihood of graduation in four years for every admitted first-year student based on more than a decade of historical academic and demographic student data.  Prior to their arrival at orientation, each student is connected to the appropriate academic learning community (i.e. success program) that also provides a social community and sense of belonging when they arrive on their first day on campus.  The Student Program Database (SPD) provides an online tool for the colleges and schools to manage their rosters of students assigned to success programs and identifies unassigned students so that they can be invited to participate in a program.
• As part of the University’s actions to improve graduation rates for all students, success programs were expanded or new ones were created starting in 2013. The combined rosters totaled about 2,000 students in 2017, roughly twice as many students compared to the 2012 rosters. Programs now include Texas Interdisciplinary Plan (TIP) Scholars in the College of Natural Sciences, Discovery Scholars in the School of Undergraduate Studies, Foundation Scholars in the College of Liberal Arts, McCombs Success Scholars in the McCombs School of Business, and Ramshorn Scholars in the Cockrell School of Engineering. Two new success programs in the College of Education and Moody College of Communication will start in fall 2018. Students in other colleges are served by Gateway Scholars, a success program managed in the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence. Students in STEM majors receive supplemental instruction and tutoring in their college-based programs in the College of Natural Sciences and the Cockrell School of Engineering. Gateway Scholars program provides STEM tutoring to its students in the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence, which is also open to other students.

Continue to 8. Communications, Assessment, and Accountability.