Where the Rubber Meets the Road

1
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School
Where the Rubber Meets the Road Packaging the
GEAR UP Scholarship Teena Olszewski Stephen
Hart Sharon Lewis Derrick Johnson
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Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

TODAYS PRESENTATION
GRANT PROJECT BACKGROUND FEDERAL GEAR UP
SCHOLARSHIP OVERVIEW CRITICAL MESSAGES /
ASSUMPTIONS THE ARIZONA APPROACH PROCESS AND
PACKAGING RE-PAVING THE ROAD WRAP-UP
Where the Rubber Meets the Road Packaging the
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
3
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

BACKGROUND NAU GEAR UP
State and Partnership Grant awarded to NAU in
2000 7th grade cohort approach 10 sites 3,900
students, most graduate in May 2006 Coordinator
at each site central office in Phoenix Federal
Match 43 Million over 6 years
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
4
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

BACKGROUND NAU GEAR UP
Urban / rural / reservation 1/2 Hispanic /
Native American 1/3 LEP and or IEP
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
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Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

GEAR UP SCHOLARSHIP OVERVIEW

• Order of Precedence
• Legislative 1998 Amendments to Higher Education
  Act Public Law 105-244, Section 404E
• Administrative Code of Federal Regulations
  CFRs Education Dept. Gen. Administrative
  Regulations EDGAR 34CFR694.10
• Programmatic Original (approved) GEAR UP Grant
  Application / Proposal

Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
6
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

GEAR UP SCHOLARSHIP OVERVIEW

• Key Elements
• State Grant versus Partnership Grant
• Maximum Award / Minimum Award
• Continuation Requirement
• Pell-grant-eligible Priority
• 5) Definition of Eligible Student

Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
7
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

CRITICAL MESSAGES / ASSUMPTIONS
Money is not a roadblock Numerous sources of
aid available GEAR UP Scholarship, alone,
inadequate GEAR UP Scholarship is most
meaningful in context of students plan Students
benefit from adult-initiated guidance Fairness
matters Importance of financial need
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
8
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

THE ARIZONA APPROACH
GEAR UP SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE 1) Convened and
hosted by Arizona Community Foundation 14
Members local community higher education
financial aid expertise 2) Met 7 times over 2½
years 3) Established policies, procedures
publicity role in 2004-05 with application
review 4) Presentations to GEAR UP sites
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
9
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

THE ARIZONA APPROACH
2005-06 Trial Run 1) Potential applicant
pool approx. 100 students 2) Process a)
students met with site coordinators for guidance
on postsecondary planning and application for GU
scholarship, b) scholarship application
materials submitted by site coordinators to
central GU office for scoring of objective
criteria 3) Committee review and scoring of
applicant materials - subjective criteria
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
10
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

THE ARIZONA APPROACH
Site Coordinator Experience ? Role at
Alhambra High School ? Structure of Planning
and Scholarship Meetings with Students ?
Effective Strategies in Working with Seniors to
Accomplish
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
11
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

THE ARIZONA APPROACH
Committee Member Experience ? Committee
meeting dynamics - Importance of community
perspective ? Roadblocks not only financial,
but personal/social ? Value of multiple
backgrounds of reviewers ? Reviewing and
scoring applicant materials
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
12
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

THE ARIZONA APPROACH
In retrospect what worked for 100 students,
could not work for thousands ? Advantages to
streamlining ? Scholarship consideration
expanded ? Efficiency in using data already
collected and technology on hand ? Appropriate
alignment with original intent
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
13
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

PROCESS AND PACKAGING 2006-07 RE-PAVING THE
ROAD
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PLANNING SESSIONS
(PEPS) 1) Places GEAR UP scholarship in larger
context of an individual students plan after
graduation 2) Scope every site, every
graduating GEAR UP senior 3) Elements
counselor or coordinator initiated one- on-one
meetings requirement for plan follow-up
increased assistance and focus on outcome
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
14
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

PROCESS AND PACKAGING 2006-07 RE-PAVING THE
ROAD
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PLANNING SESSIONS
(PEPS) - continued 4) Features ? Parent
involvement ? Emphasis on financial literacy,
FAFSA ? Training with site personnel PEPS
guide ? Collection use of data for both
counseling assistance and scholarship
administration
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
15
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

PROCESS AND PACKAGING 2006-07 RE-PAVING THE
ROAD
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PLANNING SESSIONS
(PEPS) - continued 5) PEPS Web-Page Design
? Accessible from existing web-based
program ? Student information test results
plan GPA class rank ACT/SAT scores schools
applied to, admitted to, attending
scholarships received / accepted GU
participation hours Pell-grant eligibility
EFC citizenship
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005
16
Northern Arizona University ? GEAR UP Preparing
Students to Succeed Beyond High School

WRAP-UP
Where The Rubber Meets The Road Packaging The
GEAR UP Scholarship NCCEP Conference July 2005