President Bryan Coker announces Maryville College’s selection for $2.25 million Title III grant
Oct. 20, 2023
Maryville College’s historic commitment to help all students cross the graduation finish line just got a $2.25 million boost from the U.S. Department of Education.
During the College’s annual Founder’s Day celebration held Friday night, Oct. 20, Dr. Bryan F. Coker, president, announced that MC had been selected for a Title III Strengthening Institutions Program grant. Receipt of the grant was one of several updates — and “future-proofing” initiatives — at the College detailed during the president’s remarks to alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and students in attendance. He described the federal funding as “a game-changer.”
“With this Strengthening Institutions Program grant, we will establish the ‘Building an IDEAL Community Project,’ with IDEAL an acronym for inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible learning. This program will meet the needs of our students by creating a student success model with a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) focus. The funding will allow for the hiring of seven critical new staff positions, first-year experience programming, and renovations to create a one-stop shop student support center on campus.”
Part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title III is a federally funded program designed to support the infrastructure of institutions that serve a high percentage of students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education in five-year cycles, Maryville College’s grant will fund the creation of the IDEAL Community Project through 2028.
The grant award is $2.25 million (82.2% of the total cost) over a five-year period to implement the project, and the College has committed $487,717 (17.8% of the total cost) in additional resources to ensure the initiative is well-supported.
The Title III grant proposal was a collaborative effort by Dr. Dan Klingensmith, vice president and dean of the College; Dr. Heather McMahon, assistant dean for academic success; Dr. Jerilyn Swann, associate academic dean; Dr. Kathie Shiba, assistant dean for institutional equity; John K. Berry, chief operations officer; Aja Rodriguez ’04, director of diversity, equity and inclusion; and Brittney Washington, senior associate athletic director for excellence and DEI. Grant partners McAllister & Quinn provided expert coaching, writing and project management. Dr. Ja’Wanda Grant, vice president and dean of students, will be project director.
Maryville College was last awarded a Title III grant in 1999, which transformed the classroom experience through instructional technology.
“I have no doubt that this new Title III grant will be as transformational,” Coker told the Founder’s Day crowd.
Grant helps with strategic initiatives
At his installation as the College’s 12th president in 2020, Coker identified four areas of focus, two of them being futureproofing — “working to advance the College amidst the many challenges and opportunities facing higher education” — and becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. Together, the two visions helped administrators identify areas of need and opportunity and, as a result, develop the Inclusive Excellent Strategic Plan in 2021, which included a variety of goals and initiatives to improve outcomes for high-need students, from accessibility, inclusivity, training, infrastructure support and community engagement.
These goals made up the proposals identified in the grant application, including:
- Creating a structured First-Year Experience (FYE) with a summer transition program and academic coaching;
- Revising the “onboarding” experience for first-year students to build academic skills and a sense of belonging;
- Implementing a proactive academic advising model to “provide consistency and a greater focus on pathways and career advising for graduation,” including “professional development training for faculty advisors;
- Creating a one-stop shop “Scots GPS (Getting Personalized Support)” center to serve as a gathering place with engaged programming and a sense of community; and
- Providing training for students, faculty, staff and administrators.
The grant application includes a number of specific plans for each of the five proposals, from improving instructional technology and data systems for onboarding revision to hiring personnel ranging from a Title III director to an online instructional technology specialist.
In his remarks, Coker shared that the College also was excited by a strong fall enrollment of 1,147 students, the expected opening next year of the Downtown Center for the new hospitality and fermentation sciences programs of study, improvements to athletic facilities and academic advising, and discussions and planning underway for a new facility for several of the College’s science programs.
“As we look to the future, a new science center for the College remains a critical need, and I am pleased to share that we’re making real progress in that regard,” the president reported. “Retired U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Maryville native and son of MC alumni, has pledged his support for an ‘Institute for Environmental Education and the Sciences.’ Sen. Alexander and I are actively working together on building the relationships and securing the funding to make this Institute a reality.”
Coker told the crowd that a new science center would come with a “big price tag,” not unlike the College’s other big initiatives.
“But many in this room have — and are — stepping up to make sure that Maryville College is ‘future-proofed,’” he added. “This is an incredibly challenging environment for higher education, and it is our generous supporters who help us beat the odds every year.”
The president recognized milestone reunion classes (1963, 1973 and 1983) and their class-giving efforts to date, which collectively totaled $211,000. He reported that the Class of 1963 had established a scholarship endowment, and the Class of 1973 had raised nearly $50,000 for a Dr. Randolph Shields Appalachia Resources & Studies Endowment that will fund educational initiatives related to environmental education and sustainability in our region.
“Thank you so much alumni and friends, for coming home, for being here with us tonight, and for supporting this very special college which means so much to all of us.
“Have a great Homecoming Weekend, and Go Scots!” he concluded.
