Enriching the community

UNLV program expands over the years

Since its inception 25 years ago, the UNLV Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach has affected the lives of thousands of students who might have never thought a higher education was possible.

Started as a small branch of UNLV intended to introduce the Upward Bound program, the center now offers over a dozen different programs geared toward educational and personal success for students, young and adult. The center offers programs such as adult educational services, early studies programs, parenting educational services and student support services.

Students who participate in its programs, 2,000 of them this year alone, are first generation college attendees.

The center doesn't need a testimonial that shows how the programs have shaped the way students view education and its possibilities. It's most powerful statement is made through its executive director, Tracy Cotton, who was a product of its very first Upward Bound class.

"We started out as one program in 1978," said William Sullivan, who began as director of the Department of Academic Advancement 25 years ago and now holds the title of vice president for retention and outreach at UNLV. "We started writing grants, and gradually built off that to writing federal grants to help first generation students have access to an education, as well as retention.

"Once we get them into school, we want to keep them in, and see them all the way through to graduation. We've taken on different methods and different target groups to obtain that goal."

It is an understatement to say that Cotton simply stayed in school.

He recalled the circumstances surrounding his participation in the Upward Bound program in the late 1970s. The motivational tools and the resources available to him, despite his disparate socio-economic background, proved to be a recipe for success. Cotton considers himself a career student, and has several degrees from various universities and other schools, including a Ph.D. from Stanford.

"When I was in high school, I had a counselor who literally grabbed me by the ear and said, 'You are going to sign up for this program,' " Cotton said. "(Sullivan) was director of the Upward Bound program, and he took myself and about 50 or 60 of us and enrolled us in Upward Bound. We were the initial class and we were all provided with academic enrichment services. We spent six hours on Saturdays at the university where we had classes in language arts, mathematics, science and history. It equated to an additional day of classes which included motivational services that changed our focus of wanting to go out and get a job after high school into going to college, and getting a career."

Cotton's story of being a child brought up under harsh conditions is similar to many of the students who have matriculated in the various programs offered by the center.

A major focus of the center is to change perspectives about just how difficult it is for students who come from low-income households to succeed in higher education. Its programs also hope to debunk stereotypes associated with students from those backgrounds.

The center helps students stick with the programs they select with continued reinforcement, and in many cases, a leg up on other first-year students.

"The education system at that time did not support young poor minority students, or any that came from low-income backgrounds," Cotton said. "We were considered to be the backbone of the service industry, not the backbone of the corporate structure. This program provided opportunities elsewhere. It provided skills, but more than just the skills, the motivation. They helped me believe that college was possible.

"And I had already been exposed to a college environment when we had visited UNLV and spent six weeks during the summer in the dorms. We did everything a college student did do but with oversight and support."

After college, and a job working for IBM, Cotton returned to UNLV with the intent of giving back to the program that had opened so many doors for him. He began volunteering regularly and still has a hand in many of the dealings with students.

Despite its success, Cotton still feels the program is a secret to many area students. He hopes that with the increase in programs -- such as a large contract in the works with the Clark County School District that will offer tutorial assistance city-wide -- and the possibility of opening its own charter school, more people will utilize the services offered.

"Today we have 11 federally funded programs, and five or six self-supporting programs," Cotton said. "In 1992, we served under 1,000, and today we served 18,000. In September, it will be 21,000. I'd like to help the center become what it really could be."

The center's strategy for gaining more students is to attack misconceptions about the availability of a higher education before students are too far along to become college bound in terms of their course work.

"We're working primarily with middle school age students," Sullivan said. "We have 15 different programs. We're actually involved tremendously in the Clark County School District. We start with 6th grade and continue on all the way up through graduate levels."

Many of the common misconceptions about the feasibility of students attending college come from generations who never thought they had the resources. Sullivan said a major component of the programs that work with young students is continued communication with parents.

"Working with the parents is a key factor," Sullivan said. "Most low-income parents think, 'I'm lucky if my kid finishes high school.' Most of them only hear about their kids if they're in trouble. We invite them to come to school when kids are not in trouble, but when they are doing well. We try to show that school is a friendly place. We have workshops to educate parents about the myth of them going to college."

Approximately 94 percent of seniors from the Upward Bound program will attend college their first semester out of high school, according to Cotton.

Sullivan said he's seen the spoils of what a good education can provide when he sees students years later.

"We're working on our second generation now," Sullivan said. "I'm seeing the products of Upward Bound programs are lawyers and doctors in town. I myself was a product of it in Chicago."

Those interested in learning more about the Center for Academic Outreach and Enrichment can call 895-4777 or visit http://www.unlv.edu/studentserv/caeo.


<<--[back]