University Of Alaska Anchorage: Talent Search Program To Establish Pathway From High School To Higher Ed

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

October 25, 2021

Pursuing an education can be challenging for anyone — from coursework, affordability
and everything in between. Such obstacles can be even more apparent to those in marginalized communities. Awarded to UAA in September 2021, the Talent Search grant is one of eight TRIO offerings from the U.S. Department of Education and will support efforts to bridge that gap. 

Talent Search will offer skill-building workshops, individual and group guidance,
tutorial services, career exploration opportunities, leadership development, college
entrance and financial literacy advising, and other academic services to 500 participants
at three Anchorage schools — West High School, Bartlett High School and Bettye Davis
East Anchorage High School. UAA Talent Search personnel will work collaboratively
with Anchorage School District (ASD) staff to ensure the success of participants.

“This is a move forward in terms of increasing equity and diversity, not only in secondary
education but post-secondary,” said Deanne Woodard, associate vice provost for targeted
programs and populations. “To be able to help students who are typically marginalized
and underserved and give them the support they need to be successful is critical to
our community, and we couldn’t do it without our partnership with ASD.”

A five-year grant, Talent Search will officially launch in January 2022. Woodard and
her team will hire staff and recruit students to participate in the program this fall.
The grant will pay nearly all costs for staff, equipment and program materials.

UAA’s Talent Search grant is one of 526 awarded to 865 eligible applications — 443
were awarded to pre-existing programs up for renewal, and 83 were awarded to establish
new programs.

While considered a new program, this award marks the return of Talent Search to UAA,
previously headed under Bruce Schultz, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, and Theresa
Lyons, former executive director of Student Outreach and Transition.

“We have a very diverse community that thrives when they have the support they need,”
said Woodard. “When [Talent Search] first went away, it was decided that this is a
worthy program and we needed to reinvest our efforts and try to get it back.”

To qualify for Talent Search, Woodard and her team had to demonstrate a need in the
community for such a program, illustrated by considerable percentages of first-generation
students and lower-income students. 

Furthermore, they had to outline how the program would help them meet five key objectives:
providing students with a pathway through high school, encouraging students to pursue
advanced coursework, ensuring students earn their diploma, enrolling students in a
post-secondary education program, and finally, helping students earn their degree.

“The whole suite of TRIO programs is designed for college access and success from
the time they get into the program to the time they finish,” said Woodard. “With this
grant, we don't stop tracking once they graduate high school. We’re actually tracking
them six years beyond. We want to make sure that once they go to college, they actually
complete it.”

Talent Search joins two of the eight federally funded TRIO programs already at UAA:
Student Support Services and Upward Bound. Two more TRIO programs may lie on the horizon for UAA. Proposals are being drafted
for Veterans Upward Bound and the McNair Scholars Program, which works to increase
students’ attainment of Ph.D. degrees from underrepresented segments of society.

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.