Promesa Scholars
Institution:
Ferris State University
State:
Michigan
Academic Level:
Baccalaureate
Issue Area:
Retention
Program Focus:
College Prep, First Year Support, Learning Community
Website:
Key Personnel:
Sonia Trevino
Contact Info:
Overview
The Promesa Scholars Program is a Latin@ focused leadership and retention program developed to assist students in navigating success throughout their education at Ferris State University (FSU). The Promesa Scholars Program (PSP) was created to support the academic advancement and retention of incoming Promesa Summer Success students at Ferris. In 2017, the program was redeveloped and scaled to provide access to resources and opportunities, empowering more students to achieve college completion and career readiness.
Program Description
PSP is a Latino focused leadership and retention program developed in August of 2013. The first cohort of PSP consisted of six Latino students entering FSU, however after the Latino community grew from less than 300 students to over 800 students, in an academic year, PSP was revised in the Fall of 2017 to address the on-campus growth.
The current practices established within PSP were developed with the program's four pillars in mind: leadership, community, cultural identity, and academic success. These practices have included: a 5th and 10th week academic assessment, which helps in keeping scholars on task while addressing their academic needs, cultural intelligence assessments, research mentoring with faculty to help build exposure to research, and graduate school, and developing professional networking opportunities.
Outcome
Increased retention rates: The retention rate for Promesa Scholars from Fall 2017 to Spring 2018 was 97% compared to the campus average of 64%. Currently, the program has an 85% year-to-year retention rate for Promesa Scholars.
Increased GPAs: Promesa Scholars averaged a 2.8 GPA for Fall 2018, compared to their FSU peers average of a 2.3 GPA.
