In 2023, thanks in large part to the success of the student success initiative, the college received a second five-year HSI grant of $2.6 million. In 2020, Pacific Oaks College was designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution under Title V and received a five-year, $2.5 million grant to bolster student retention. These funds in large part went to create the Student Success Center, which for the last four years has supported students in many ways, including providing personalized bilingual tutoring services and lending services for laptops and textbooks. “The foundation developed by grant number one was the impetus and catalyst for grant number two,” says Judy Castro, Ed.D., Title V project director, who wrote both grants.
Until the first grant closes next year, Dr. Castro says the college plans to be strategic in how the two grants are administered. “Grant number two is supporting new and incoming students, providing them with that foundation in all of the services that are offered to them,” she says. The first grant will continue to provide to current students through the Student Success Center.
To administer the second grant, Pacific Oaks has tapped Rosalyn Kempf, Ed.D., as Title V project director. Dr. Kempf has more than 20 years of experience in higher education administration with a focus on student engagement and success
“I had always heard wonderful things about Pacific Oaks and was really looking for a place where I could not only make a difference but was also really mission-driven,” Dr. Kempf says.
The grant is called the Intentional Student Retention Initiative. An important piece of honoring the “intentional” aspect of the grant is targeted and proactive student outreach and a focus on utilizing data to measure student success initiatives and adjust efforts as necessary.
Says Dr. Kempf, “Grant one laid a great foundation, started the Student Success Center, and grant two is here to continue and expand that work by collaborating with faculty, with staff, and the community to create a vibrant, transformative experience for our students at Pacific Oaks.”
A first step moving forward will be to bring both the Student Success Center and the Center for Achievement, Resources, and Enrichment (CARE) under one roof. The space will be called Pacific Oaks Student Grove in a nod to the college’s trademark oak tree.
“It’s exciting that it’s happen in the college’s 80th year,” Dr. Kempf says, “and that was the vision for the space, looking at how do we honor and build upon what’s already here as we look to the future.”
