NAU secures $3M HSI grant to increase student success in and out of the classroom

Northern Arizona University is launching a five-year program called Comunidad, Cultura y Conexión (C³): Enhancing Institutional Effectiveness with Hispanic Students at NAU that will help all students gain the skills needed to be successful after college.

With $3 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education and under the leadership of Luis Fernandez, chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Angelina Castagno, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership, the C³ initiative has four primary areas of focus:

1. Develop the C³ Scholars, a cohort of freshmen and sophomores who will have shared coursework and comprehensive support services to increase access and quality of educational support in areas of academics, community building, finances and well-being
2. Improve faculty and staff capacity for supporting students through participation in a yearlong Community of Practice (C³ CoP) focusing on inclusive and identity-positive practices
3. Improve the coordination and alignment of NAU’s social, mental health, academic and financial support services to better meet student needs through development of an advisory and review group (C³ Advisory Council) focused on aligning and strengthening institutional policies and procedures
4. Improve processes for institutional data sharing in areas of persistence, retention, completion, student experience surveys and post-college outcomes

This initiative will build on many programs already available to NAU students, including peer mentoring, the First Year Seminar, the First Scholars program, the STAR program and many others available to NAU students.

While this funding focuses on Hispanic students, C³ also benefits first-generation students and contributes to the success of all students at NAU through enhanced institutional collaborations and programming. Success in securing this Title V grant is the result of years of collaborative efforts and programming to address the higher education challenges of the region.

“Students come to NAU ready to work hard, looking for upward mobility and determined to overcome life’s many challenges,” Fernandez said. “These values fuel NAU’s quest to improve the quality of education available in the region by strengthening the institution’s capacity to fulfill its mission.”