Students to benefit from nearly $20,000 in grant-funded projects

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s Circle of Ivy women’s philanthropy group recently awarded $18,820 to fund seven student success initiatives. The projects were selected from a pool of 35 proposals submitted by faculty and staff, and reflect one of three funding priorities for the annual grants: student completion; instructional materials; or faculty/student travel.

Projects selected for funding by the Circle’s 48 members include:

A Taste of Italy – $5,000

A 10-day travel-abroad opportunity to provide Hospitality Administration students an opportunity to study food systems through a global lens. Students will visit central Italy’s regional farms and production facilities, explore the country’s agri-tourism industry, and prepare traditional and regional cuisines.

Student Success Kit – $3,000

Essential supplies and materials in the form of a “student success kit” to enhance engagement of students as they begin their studies at Ivy Tech. The kit will include a tote bag with post-it notes, highlighter, folders, USB drives, index cards, student planners and a thermal coffee tote. Students will be tracked after receiving the kits to measure overall success including midterm grades, cumulative GPA, final grades, persistence and completion.

AYD Company Mentor Program – $1,100

A structured program to foster relationships between area employers and their employees who are enrolled at Ivy Tech through our Achieve Your Degree program. Mentors would encourage successful completion of AYD and provide a view of the professional career they have selected.

Food for Thought – $3,000

A food pantry for students to access in our student tutoring center. This will serve the dual purpose of providing healthy snacks to help address student food insecurity needs as well as directing students to the tutoring center where they can meet and learn more about supplemental instruction leaders, tutors and mentors. Staff will track students who come to get items from the pantry and monitor them for GPA, persistence and retention.

Instructional Materials for Early Childhood and Elementary Education Students – $2,000

Instructional materials for use by ECE and ELED students to prepare them for experiences in inclusive classrooms where students from all cultural traditions, backgrounds and abilities feel represented, welcomed, understood and are focused on learning.

Fighting Trauma: Breaking Barriers to Successful Completion of a College Degree – $1,720

A student engagement and academic research project focused on the impact of trauma—especially that suffered in childhood—on student performance in a college setting. Findings will be published for use by the academic community to better understand how trauma negatively affects learning, studies, career paths and futures.

ASB 2019 Faculty Professional Development and Program Assistance – $3,000

Continuity of this annual program through inclusion of a third faculty member who will provide instructional and interpersonal guidance to participating students. Funds would also allow faculty to develop their program-specific expertise through research, site exploration and documentation.

Statewide, Circle of Ivy members impacted all 19 campuses, with 616 members funding $130,000 in grants for 51 projects total.