NEWS | June 2008 - all articles

This page includes all articles in the June issue of NEWS. Return to summary or go to the NEWS archive.

Keeping our campuses safe
Low-income student growth has impact on college participation
Private scholarships helping to fill the gap
Briefs

Keeping our campuses safe

Old Main on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus after the 1998 tornado

Ray Thrower had been on the job as campus safety director just 29 days when a tornado struck St. Peter and Gustavus Adolphus College back in 1998. The mile-wide F-3 tornado damaged all 59 buildings on campus, shattered 80 percent of the windows and uprooted more than 2,000 trees. No deaths or serious injuries resulted — probably because the college was on spring break — but damage was estimated at $50 million.

Thrower, who had come from North Carolina and was more used to hurricanes (“you have time to plan for them,”) rode out the tornado in the bathtub of his apartment. “It was the worst destruction I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. Since then, Gustavus has had an acute awareness of the need to plan for the unexpected.
 
In the wake of campus shootings, Hurricane Katrina and other incidents, institutions across the country are re-evaluating their safety and security plans. A nationwide survey by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact assessing the impact of the Virginia Tech tragedy found that most of the 331 two- and four-year campuses that responded have conducted thorough reviews of their policies and procedures.

Thrower is more aware than most of what campuses are doing since he happens to be this year’s president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). The organization supports its 1,100 institutional members in making campuses safe and conducive to learning and working.

Thrower was involved in writing the group’s recently-released Blueprint for Safer Campuses (PDF). Here are a few of the recommendations included in that report:

• Conduct an assessment that considers the full spectrum of campus threats and vulnerabilities, i.e., natural, criminal, terrorist, accidental, etc. It should guide protective measures and emergency planning assumptions.
• Disseminate information to the campus community during emergencies using high technology (Web, e-mail, phone) and low technology (flyers and loud speakers).
• Develop a succinct emergency plan in conjunction with local government partners that allows for a coordinated, organized response.

“We’ve made safety a priority and have gotten buy-in from our administrative council,” Thrower said. Gustavus has invested in a multi-layered system called Connect-Ed that has tools for e-mail, Web and phone communications. This summer the campus is installing an indoor and outside public address system manufactured by Advanced Wireless Communications.

Thrower notes that what works in a small, rural community will be different that what works for a larger campus in an urban area. William Carter, III, manager of special projects at the University of St. Thomas, concurs. “We have more than 15,000 people on two campuses to notify in an emergency,” he said.

Although recent incidents around the country prompted St. Thomas to review its plans, Carter said that during some pandemic planning a few years ago “we saw things that needed to be done around policy, equipment and training.” As a result, they’ve re-vamped their emergency response plan and response team and participated in intensive training programs. Last fall the campus implemented a cell phone, voicemail and e-mail emergency notification system and this summer it will unveil a one-stop Web site called UST Cares that will assist St. Thomas community members with all types of safety and crisis issues.

St. Thomas has adopted the National Incidents Management System (NIMS) that was developed by Homeland Security and used during the 35W bridge collapse. “The first officer at the scene is responsible until relieved by a supervisor and the chain of command grows organically to produce a very coordinated response,” Carter said. He notes that the university has developed especially strong relationships with local police, fire and Homeland Security. “Because of their assets, there are situations where they would be more frontline. This calls for very close coordination,” Carter said.

These safety procedures aren’t shelved until there’s a “mega event,” according to Carter. St. Thomas has 45 public safety officers that respond to everything from lockouts, jumpstarting cars and escort requests to dealing with medical emergencies, crime reports and investigations and conducting first aid and other safety training programs for a campus-wide crisis. “We use these response models in routine situations so that they become part of our culture,” he said.

Campus safety leaders at institutions across the state share the hope that Thrower and Carter articulate — that they never need to face many of the situations they plan and train for. “We are trying to be proactive because if you’re reactive, it’s too late,” Thrower said.

Low-income student growth has impact on college participation

The U.S. has traditionally enrolled far fewer students in college from low-income families than students from higher-income families. In 2006-07, 24 percent of low-income students participated in college compared to 45 percent of students from higher-income families. Minnesota follows a similar pattern, with 29 percent of students from low-income families going on to college compared to 65 percent overall. This pattern is troubling. Without more students from all income levels continuing into college, our nation will lose the brain power needed to innovate and fuel our economy.

While the number of higher-income high school students who are most likely to attend college is decreasing, the number and share of low-income students is growing. One measure of this is the increase in students eligible for free or reduced lunch. A student qualifies based on household size and federal poverty guidelines. Generally, for a household of four, a student qualifies for reduced lunch when yearly family earnings are $38,230 or less; a student qualifies for free lunch if earnings are below $26,845. In the past decade Minnesota students receiving free or reduced lunch have grown from 26 percent to 32 percent.

Now look ahead, given the poverty levels in the younger grades. This past school year saw 37 percent of first graders — the graduating class of 2019 — receiving free or reduced lunch. That’s a good indicator that the share of high school graduates in poverty will continue to grow. In other words, over 20 years the share of low-income students will likely grow by more than 20 percent (1997-98 to 2018-19).

While the low-income population has been growing, Minnesota has seen a dip in the likelihood that these students will go to college. Our college participation rate for low-income high school graduates has been declining — from 48 percent in 1993 to 29 percent today. If low-income student participation rates remain low while the percent of students coming from low-income families continues to increase, Minnesota will feel the impact.

“If we don’t take steps early on to get children out of poverty, they might not make it across the high school finish line,” said Marc Kimball of the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota. “Investing in kids and their education will help them and our state succeed.”

For more on this topic, read Enrolling lower-income college students: why it matters.

Private scholarships helping to fill the gap

Recipients of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation scholarships

Paying for college got a little easier for 100 high school grads recently honored at a celebration in St. Paul’s Rice Park. The event was sponsored by five local organizations that joined forces and together awarded about $500,000 in scholarships to the St. Paul area graduates. Many of the 100 recipients have persevered through considerable adversity. Without scholarships, most probably would not be headed for college.

Take the case of Winter Mealey, who received $1,500 from the Optimist Club of St. Paul — that amount will be matched by Augsburg College, where she’ll start in the fall. A few years ago her parents were arrested when a methamphetamine lab was discovered in their house. Mealey and her siblings spent time in foster care and with relatives; then eventually she and her sister were allowed to help her mother clean, remodel and return to the formerly condemned home. Through it all, she kept focused on her education.

Mealey participated in Admission Possible, a nonprofit that helps promising low-income kids prepare for college, where she learned that there are many private scholarships that can help pay for college. Financial need is one of the top reasons low-income students don’t go to college, according to Admission Possible’s president Jim McCorkell. “Even with federal and state financial aid available to help meet student need, low-income students’ successful entry into college often depends on being able to fill the financial gap with private scholarships,” he said.

Minnesota students borrowed a record amount last year. To help students avoid burdensome debt, more private organizations are stepping up to give dollars that don’t have to be paid back. In the past fifteen years, private grants to college students in Minnesota have increased 205 percent, according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

“The cost of attending college has far outstripped the growth of personal income and government assistance,” said John Tillotson of the Optimist Club of St. Paul. “We’re hoping to help plug that hole.”

The other private donors for the St. Paul celebration included the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation, the Children’s Defense Fund, the Page Educational Foundation and the Wallin Scholarship Program. “We’re celebrating what these kids have done, what our local schools have produced, and how the community has gathered its resources to send these kids on to higher education,” Tillotson said. Read more about the event and the scholarships.

Briefs

• Brother William Mann, FSC, assumed the presidency at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota on June 1.
• Minnesota Private College Week runs June 23-27. Last year nearly 2,200 students attended this free event that provides campus tours and information about our 17 campuses. Find out more or register for MPCW.