EOP updates FSEC on its program

By DONNA LONGENECKER
Reporter Assistant Editor

The director of the Educational Opportunity Program updated the Faculty Senate Executive Committee on the program at the group's Feb. 20 meeting, highlighting its goals, achievements and mission of recruiting the underserved populations of New York State.

The primary mission of the program, Henry Durand told senators, is to recruit New York State residents who are financially and educationally disadvantaged. EOP counselors blanket the state and every Buffalo public school in the spring and fall, hoping to attract students who might otherwise not have the opportunity to attend a university. Once eligible students have been identified, counselors use both non-cognitive evaluations and traditional forms of assessment to determine students' needs before they enter the program. Once enrolled in the university, students are provided with every possible means of support to make the transition from high school to college a successful one, Durand said.

"If we can identify a student who actually is performing at a reputable level, in spite of a number of obstacles, then we feel fairly certain that with the kinds of support we provide, they can successfully navigate what they need to do at UB," he said.

Academic-achievement highlights for EOP for the 2001-02 academic year include 272 students who completed the Fall 2001 semester with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher; 24 students who have met graduation requirements for this February and 139 students who have filed for graduation at the end of the spring semester; 77 students who were included in "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities" for the 2000-01 academic year, and nine students who were accepted as Ronald McNair scholars for 2001-02—with five of the six graduating scholars planning to attend graduate school.

EOP students' high school GPAs and SAT scores upon acceptance at UB are not far off the mark of their freshmen peers, Durand said. For the fall 2001 semester, the average EOP high school GPA was 81, compared to 90 for incoming freshmen, and their SAT scores averaged 939, compared to 1156 for other incoming freshmen. The graduation rate for EOP students over a six-year period is 42 percent, compared to 56 percent for the non-EOP population. Moreover, UB's EOP students beat the national EOP graduation rate by 34 percent, he said.

EOP counselors, Durand pointed out, provide the same level of academic advisement that all UB students receive, as well as personal and social counseling, crisis counseling, mentoring and advocacy. They also teach classes and conduct life-skills workshops on issues such as teaching students about budgeting and offering individualized, group or classroom tutoring for most UB courses. Counselors are heavily involved in the recruitment process, often going out in teams with recruiters from the admissions office.

"If a student has a specific problem, whether that problem is personal, financial, academic or scheduling, referral and/or advocacy with a social service agency, they can go to their counselor and they can get that kind of support," Durand said.

EOP also conducts a four-week summer orientation program to immerse incoming students in the college experience. "In that four-week program, we try to give the students a feel for what the academic year is like," he said. "We try to put the student in the living environment in which they will live with the kinds of pressures they will have to adjust to."

The ethnic make-up of the program is diverse, Durand noted, with African Americans comprising 35-40 percent of students enrolled, Asian-Americans comprising 25 percent, Hispanics 20 percent and Caucasians 13 percent. Native American enrollment is less than 1 percent, he added.

Seventy-five percent of the students enrolled in EOP come from households with incomes of $20,000 or less, with the majority of students—36 percent—coming from households with incomes below $9,900. To qualify for the program, students must meet income guidelines. For example, $25,000 is the maximum amount of combined income allowable for a student coming from a four-person household.

"EOP contributes a considerable amount to the university's quality of life," Durand said, noting it is one of the largest student employers on campus, with 75-90 students working at EOP at any given time.

"We have some challenges in EOP, with state support declining and rising expenses. The freshman students this year, with all forms of financial aid at maximum levels, will still be $1,800 short of what it costs to attend UB. We're scrambling to try and figure out how to work it out," said Durand.