{"id":3610,"date":"2020-09-28T15:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T19:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earlhamcollege.wpengine.com\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2021-03-09T16:07:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T21:07:09","slug":"lilly-endowment-awards-ec-1m-to-support-student-success-increase-dual-enrollment-and-community-college-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/lilly-endowment-awards-ec-1m-to-support-student-success-increase-dual-enrollment-and-community-college-transfers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lilly Endowment awards EC $1M to support student success; increase dual enrollment and community college transfers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Lilly Endowment Inc. has made a $1 million grant to Earlham College to support \u201cGrow Where You\u2019re Planted: Deepening Our Roots,\u201d a three-year project that will enhance Earlham\u2019s student advising resources and expand learning opportunities for Indiana\u2019s community college and high school students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The grant was made through Charting the Future for Indiana\u2019s Colleges and Universities, a Lilly Endowment initiative designed to help all of Indiana\u2019s 38 accredited public and private colleges and universities consider what it would take to improve their efforts to prepare students for successful futures while thoughtfully examining the long-term financial sustainability of their institutions. \u201cGrow Where You\u2019re Planted\u201d is the second project at Earlham that Lilly Endowment has supported in six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are so grateful for this grant that will enable us to put new infrastructure in place to empower students to begin planning their future the moment they become Earlhamites,\u201d Earlham President Anne Houtman said. \u201cThis effort will also allow us to expand our educational mission so that we can attract and support a wider array of learners who live in our backyard and can benefit from the very best of the liberal arts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are five priorities for the project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen students are better supported, everyone wins,\u201d Houtman said. \u201cEnhancing our advising infrastructure for all students gives them a leg up on their careers. Building new pathways for success for high school students and community college transfers puts an Earlham education within better reach for local and area students. It also will have a cumulative impact on the long-term health of Earlham College and increase the number of students graduating into the world with a college degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maggie Thomas, associate professor of psychology and interim dean of the College, will administer the grant project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdvising students is about meeting them where they are and helping them get to where they want to go after graduation, with high-quality advising associated with better retention and graduation rates,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cEarlham is the perfect size for strong advising, where advisers really get to know their advisees and tailor their interactions accordingly. With this grant, we will support the important work of advising, including addressing the specific needs of high school and transfer students. I am thrilled to engage in this work alongside our faculty and students.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlham received a $100,000 planning grant in 2019 through Charting the Future. This new, implementation grant was awarded under the second phase of the three-phase initiative. In this phase, Lilly Endowment invited proposals that present promising strategies that will result in economies of scale and other cost efficiencies to enhance the viability and financial condition of the institutions and prepare graduates for rewarding employment and to live engaged and meaningful lives, especially in Indiana. Grants under a third phase, which is competitive, will be awarded in 2021. Those grants will support collaborative efforts that seek to have large-scale impact on the ability of higher education institutions in Indiana to fulfill their educational missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n