25. The diagram shows the structure of a molecule. Which statement is true?
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University requests state funding for bridge program
Students participated in the OPTIONS program last year. The University is requesting funding for a similar program for first-generation students.
Contributed photo
- CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boese
For the 2017-18 school year, the University hopes to establish a program that will give low-income, first-generation or non-traditional college students an academic and financial jump-start.
According to the information provided in the retreat agenda, the Jayhawk Success Academy would target incoming students coming from a low-income or non-traditional background. The program would begin the summer before those students started classes at the University and continue throughout their first year.
At the Board of Regents annual retreat earlier this month, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little proposed a budget increase of $1.3 million for the University's Lawrence campus to establish the Jayhawk Success Academy.
The students participating in the program will be given the chance to take a University 101 course and attend several KU Core classes over that summer, up to a total of seven credit hours, according to the agenda. The
program would offer a scholarship to cover those credit hours, along with a $1,000 stipend.
Throughout the following year, students would be provided several specialized services, including intensive advising, programs for building academic skills and chances to interact with their fellow participants. If the participants meet certain requirements, the program will also grant each a $300 stipend per quarter.
"Stipends allow low income students to participate in the program in lieu of hourly jobs that may take them from their studies," the agenda said.
According to the agenda, the program will take 150 students each year, chosen based on high school achievements and future potential. The two target groups are students from low-income backgrounds and student veterans, both of whom are shown to have lower retention rates than other groups.
operates its own bridge program, called OPTIONS, in the week before classes begin.
The University currently has several programs that target this group of incoming students, including McNair Scholars, Hawklink and the TRIO Center. In fact, TRIO
Melissa Peterson, an academic coordinator at the University's Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, works with the OP-
TIONS program. She said programs for low-income, first-generation students are important because those students tend to have more difficulty being successful in college, whether academically or socially.
"These kind of programs
give the students who may need it extra support and that's what we want to do as an institution," she said.
If you're low-income, anything you don't have to pay for is awesome."
Melissa Peterson Academic coordinator
The 186 students who participated in this year's OPTIONS program, which is only its second year, were able to tour campus, learn about different student services, including financial aid, and get to know each other. Peterson said. She said one of the best things about the program was that none of the participants had to pay anything.
"If you're low-income anything you don't have to pay for is awesome," she said.
This component is included in the proposed Jayhawk Success Network as well. In fact, the scholarships for the summer portion of the program are nearly a third of the total funding requested for
In order to construct a new building for the KU Medical Center on the University's Wichita campus, Gray-Little also requested a $5 million one-time increase for fiscal year 2018, with plans for a $10 million increase in 2019.
the project, according to the Regents agenda.
In contrast, the final Regents proposal for the University's 2017 budget (which includes the current academic year), included a nearly $12 million increase, according to a report by the Kansas Legislative Research team.
The board will finalize their budget proposal for all the Regents universities at their September meeting. At that point it will go to the governor's office, which will review it for inclusion in the governor's budget proposal for the state legislature.
Even after the legislature passes the budget, it still could see reductions if the state's revenue fails to meet projections next spring. In recent years, these reductions, called allotments, have caused the University to increase tuition rates shortly before beginning the next academic year.
Student Senate position open for applications
▶ ANDREW ROSENTHAL
@rosentatter_
Student Senate has posted a job opening for the position of Policy and Development Director.
"The Policy and Development Director understands the positions we ran on for One KU," Connor Birzer, Senate communications director, said. "They make sure the
platform we ran on is being followed up with Senate policies."
Applications are being accepted through Tuesday, Aug. 30. After that, interviews will take
place. The position will be announced at the first Full Senate meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 7th.
The position was initially awarded to Dalton Wiley for the 2016-2017 school year.
Then, the Student Senate Twitter account posted a tweet Thursday indicating the position was open and applications were being accepted.
Birzer said all he could
confirm was that the position was vacant.
Edited by Chandler Boese