Providing Opportunities Designed to Educate and Recognize (PODER)
Clovis Community College (CCC) is a fully accredited two-year public college in California’s agricultural Central Valley, situated between Fresno County’s two largest cities, Fresno and Clovis. The college is a Hispanic Serving Institution enrolling more than 8,500 students a semester, with 43% of those are Hispanic and 66% are low- income. CCC’s service area faces high rates of unemployment and poverty, and low levels of educational attainment, especially for minoritized students entering STEM fields of study. Based on these needs, CCC requests a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement its Providing Opportunities Designed to Educate and Recognize student success program ($3,000,000 over five years).
Clovis Community College proposes a guided pathways approach to support STEM academic success for its students. This includes outreach, alignment, instructions/student support structures, and industry connections focused on providing culturally inclusive and innovative educational pathways to STEM careers. The PODER project has one central goal and three (3) supporting components that guide the implementation of the proposed activities to meet grant objectives.
All components integrate activities related to Competitive Preference Priorities #1 & #2.
Project Goal
PODER’s goal is to increase the number of Hispanic (and low-income) students in the Central Valley who have access to and complete degrees or certificates in STEM disciplines through guided pathways and partnerships to support increased transfer into 4-year university STEM programs. Activities will also allow participants to gain valuable work-based learning experiences. Project objectives include: 1) increase Hispanic STEM major enrollment to at least 45% of STEM majors, 2) increase STEM course success of Hispanic and low-income students to 71%; 3) lower the rates of Hispanic and low-income STEM students failing to meet ‘academic progress’ standards (which affects financial aid); 4) increase STEM degrees/certificates conferred to Hispanic and low-income students by 20%; and; 5) increase the three-year cohort transfer-readiness of Hispanic and low-income STEM students to 25%.
- Component One: Outreach and Bridging Strategies to Increase STEM Enrollments to increase access and enrollment of Hispanic and/or low-income students through a partnership with employers, local K-12 districts, and four-year university partners.
- Component Two: Strategies to Increase Course Success and STEM Program Completion to improve collaborative instructional and student services support through a Community of Practice, data analysis, active learning strategies, culturally responsive pedagogy, and ongoing classroom teaching innovation.
- Component Three: Professional Development and Sustainability Strategies to improve classroom instructional services to minoritized populations and enhance student support system, supported Professional Development activities will lead to sustainable outcomes that will drive long term and ongoing innovation at CCC
