Oak Foundation gives $300,000 to pilot Student Success Coach model

Oak Foundation is providing $300,000 over three years to Durham Technical Community College Foundation to support a new Student Success Coach initiative to help students reach their educational goals.

Oak Foundation commits its resources to address issues of global, social, and environmental concern, particularly those that have a major impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. Through its grant-making, Oak supports others to make the world a safer, fairer, and more sustainable place to live. With offices in Europe, India, and North America, the foundation makes grants to organizations in approximately 40 countries worldwide.

The new Student Success Coach model encourages student persistence and completion by supporting students as they navigate the college and helping align institutional services and resources to contribute to success in their desired pathway.

Oak Foundation funding will support three years of the initiative, including full-time Success Coach personnel, part-time hourly tutoring, emergency financial grants, professional development, and more.

Durham Tech has taken important measures to close racial, social, and economic equity gaps over the past several years. Introducing Student Success Coaches is the next step in carrying out the College’s commitment to equitable student success, said Durham Tech Foundation Executive Director Melissa Chappell. 

Grant personnel will focus initially on courses that serve students early in their academic career. The College hopes to eventually place a Student Success Coach in each of the College’s seven Guided Career Pathways.

“This project will strengthen the One College meta-major approach deployed at our institution, enabling us to more deeply examine student success, remove institutional barriers that impede students from meeting their goals, and better equip students to achieve learning outcomes in their coursework,” Chappell said.

The initiative will be rolled out July 1, 2021 and personnel will begin assisting students in their caseload during the Fall 2021 academic semester. Coaches will meet with students, monitor grades and attendance, and connect students with support and tutorial services as needed. 

The Success Coach Pilot Project will allow Durham Tech to change its institutional structure to improve the services and supports provided to individuals identified as at-risk of not completing first college-level courses successfully. The outcomes from the pilot project will inform potential plans to scale this work college-wide. 

“We are pleased to support this initiative, which will improve the services and support to students to achieve their educational goals,” Oak Foundation said. 

For more information, contact Desiree Towson, M.S., Communications and Public Relations Coordinator, at allisontowsond@durhamtech.edu.