The University of South Dakota received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to create a holistic model for student success, with a specific focus on rural students.
Through the project, titled “Coyote Kickstart: Rural Recruitment, Retention and Completion,” USD will help rural and underrepresented students succeed by providing mentoring opportunities, academic support and access to paid internships. This project is aimed at increasing enrollment and retention rates and will lay the foundation for how the university supports all students moving forward.
“We have several mentoring activities taking place across campus that we know work and support students, but we also know that we have many students that fall through the cracks or don’t have access to the mentoring experience,” said Lisa Bonneau, Ph.D., assistant provost and grant writer, about the need for the grant. “This will give USD the opportunity to increase the number of students on campus that are supported.”
Creating a scalable mentoring program to support the academic success of USD students provides a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on the university’s support services, Bonneau said.
“Long term, we hope to be able to use the grant funding as a pilot to develop sustainable mentoring and career readiness programs that will impact the success of all students that choose to attend USD,” Bonneau said. “I am very excited to see this vision come to life.”
As part of this program, USD will also increase capacity for participation in student internships by expanding the Coyote Career Kickstart program. Coyote Career Kickstart is a four-year program designed for incoming students who want to kick start their journey toward a successful career. The program supports students with mentorship, classroom experience, scholarship assistance, paid work experience and leadership and professional development.
“Not only is the program beneficial for our students, but it’s also important to the success of area employers,” said USD President Sheila K. Gestring. “USD plays an important role in building the region’s workforce, and programs like Coyote Career Kickstart do just that by introducing students to employers and building relationships and networks before graduation.”
For more information about Coyote Career Kickstart, visit https://www.usd.edu/kickstart.
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