In the fall of 2006, the University of Kansas received a three-year federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). For many years, FIPSE has supported innovative, replicable education improvement projects that respond to problems of national significance at the postsecondary level.
Professor Mai-Dalton, past Executive Director of KU-Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) serves as the grant's Principal Investigator. The primary goal of the grant is to determine and assess if a diverse group of three Community Colleges can replicate the KU-MSP model that has been established at the University of Kansas. These Pilot Programs are being established at three Kansas Community Colleges that are initially designed to assist students to complete their educational goals, including transferring to a four-year degree institution. The three community colleges are: 1). Cowley Community College in Arkansas City; 2) Donnelly College; and 3) Kansas City Kansas Community College, both of which are in Kansas City, Kansas. Scholars at Donnelly College have completed their programs as of Spring 2009 and discontinue their participation for the upcoming year.
We are grateful for the FIPSE grant which continues to support, not only many of the KU-MSP initiatives and activities; but the three community college activities and programs as well. From the initial grant proposal and during the initiation process an assessment component has been an integral part of the project that will measure – over three years - the success of these three programs and provide a "lessons learned" in beginning such an initiative at other institutions across the country.
