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Southeast Tech expands access coaching for multilingual and Indigenous students; reports early GPA and enrollment gains
Summary
The college’s access coaches reported individualized outreach to multilingual and Native students, summer bridge activity, scholarship supports and preliminary GPA improvements for coached students.
Marcela Prokop presented the board with an update on Southeast Tech’s access coach program, describing two access coaches who work with multilingual and Indigenous students to ease transitions to college and training programs.
Prokop said Jackie Hartman, the English language access coach, worked with roughly 78 multilingual students in outreach and provided intensive support to about 30 seniors last year; six of those seniors received scholarships after working with the coach, and two received full-ride awards. "She ended up working with 30 seniors," Prokop said. Prokop added that eight students who completed a summer LMS mini-class with Jackie continued at Southeast Tech and finished the fall with higher grades.
Shasta Weston, the Indigenous access coach, is in her first year and has worked with students in high schools and is planning outreach to eighth graders and families. Prokop said Weston’s caseload of roughly 28 high-school students has coincided with improved attendance and GPA increases for some students; she cited one case where a student's GPA rose from 1.0 to 2.875 since working with the coach.
Prokop described family-focused outreach — meeting parents at libraries and workplaces — and workshops planned for scholarships and FAFSA. She said a Build Dakota workshop and a FAFSA workshop in partnership with the multicultural center are scheduled to help families understand financial-aid pathways. Prokop told the board the team surveyed about 150 families at a December event and found low baseline knowledge of scholarships and Pell eligibility among respondents.
Board members praised the program’s community presence and encouraged continued tracking of student outcomes. The board acknowledged the access and workforce opportunity update by motion and vote.
