Texas Lutheran University awarded $2.89M federal grant
26 Apr 2023
TLU, News
Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette
A nearly $3 million federal grant will help Texas Lutheran University improve teaching, working and learning at the university over the next several years.
The local university recently announced winning the largest competitive grant in the school’s history. The $2.89 million Department of Education Title V grant will fund building the Bulldog Undergraduates Engaging iN Opportunities for Success (BUENOS) Center, said Dr. David A. Ortiz, TLU Vice President for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“This grant allows us to hire out new library staff, hire out data analysts, hire out staff to run the BUENOS Center,” he said. “It is going to create a tremendous experience that will not, at the end of the day, ask more people to do more things because we’re going to be able to staff it with individuals who will be able to take on these leadership roles.”
The BUENOS Center will help academically at-risk students, the university said in a statement. It also will develop four-year plans for students that will include integrated academic and career planning, the statement read.
There are two main project goals associated with the grant.
One goal is to help improve undergraduate degree attainment of Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students, the university said. Strengthening those students’ academic skills for success will help them improve.
Another goal is to help enhance and expand career development and support for Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students.
The grant will go to help people from across the entire student population, Texas Lutheran University President Debbie Cottrell said.
“The impact of this grant will be tremendous for TLU, as it builds programs and opportunities across campus to ensure the success of all of our students,” she said. “We recognize the importance of intentional and dedicated efforts to meet the needs of our diverse student body, and this grant will allow us to advance these efforts in significant and exciting ways.”
Texas Lutheran University historically enrolled a predominantly white and significantly Lutheran student population until the early 1990s, Ortiz said. Back in 1993, about 20% of students were non-white or international, he said.
Things shifted a bit by 2011, when Texas Lutheran University’s Hispanic enrollment grew to 25% and the university received status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution — ones that enroll at least 25% Hispanic or Latino students, Ortiz said. Currently, there are nearly 575 HSIs in the country, he said.
In fall 2022, 42% of TLU students were Hispanic and 9% African American. Once built and in operation, the BUENOS Center will help support those students and all others, Ortiz said.
“While enrollment of Hispanic students has steadily increased, their graduation rates still remain below the TLU average,” he said. “The BUENOS Center will not only meet the needs of a diverse student population, it will also serve the needs of every TLU student. Title V grants, by their definition, are designed to help schools like TLU build capacity throughout the university by creating an institutional rising tide that will lift all students to success.”
Other ways in which the grant will support multiple campus populations is a focused workshop series called Platicas, the BUENOS Amigos and Mentors (BAM) mentoring program, and an overhauled New Student and Family Orientation experience, the university’s statement read.
Additionally, the funding will allow for the creation of the Holistic Exploration of Careers by Hands-on Opportunity (HECHO) program, which is designed to ensure students’ career development experiences address personal exploration and experiential learning.
Lastly, the grant will allow the university to establish the Center for Information Equity and Learning Outcomes (CIELO) which will provide an equity lens for data collection, analysis and programmatic recommendations, the statement read.
Some of the programming and campus additions the grant will fund aim at improving students’ experiences at the university, Ortiz said. The grant will help make students feel more at home at Texas Lutheran, which administrators believe will help everyone in the long run, he said.
“In the end, what this grant is, it is a retention and graduation grant,” Ortiz said. “On the surface, that’s what we’re talking about here. When the smoke, mirrors, and the pomp and circumstance clears the room, this is a grant designed to ensure the students enrolled at TLU graduate.
“That’s the end game here.”
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