A wide range of units across the University have received a well-deserved boost in the form of new BU 4U Retention and Graduation Grants.

The $250,000 of this year’s available funds, which contribute to an increased level of retention and graduation rates amongst Brock students while also preparing them to positively influence others, were divvied up between 27 projects from across the University.

Having impacted nearly 16,000 students in 2017-18, this year’s grants aim to support accessibility, mobility, student-centred learning and pedagogy.

“The aim of these grants is that every student who starts at Brock also graduates,” said Brock Vice-Provost, Enrolment Management and International, Jamie Mandigo. “We want to remove barriers to ensure the students who come to Brock are as successful as possible.”

Along with expanding existing initiatives such as the Smart Start and BaseCamp orientation programs, funding has also been allocated for first-time initiatives that include increasing graduation rates among marginalized students, providing new academic advising resources for undeclared science students and offering additional resources for first-year students in the second half of their first semester through a support program called Survive, Revive, Thrive.

Brad Clarke, Director of Student Life and Community Experience and team lead on Survive, Revive, Thrive, said the new funds allow for students to more easily access the many support programs the University already has in place.

“Helping new students to successfully navigate a time when they may be overwhelmed with assignments, worried about their progress and stressed over final exams is a key aspect of our overall retention goal of preparing and supporting students to succeed at the University, both in their first year and throughout the entirety of their studies,” said Clarke.

Mandigo said the funds are distributed at a grass-roots level to projects like Survive, Revive, Thrive to make an immediate impact.

“These grants provide resources to people on the front lines who deal with students every day,” he said. “We want to ensure the money is going where it is most needed and can be most impactful.”

With new partnerships forming between initiatives, Mandigo is hoping that participating units will further their collaborations to better the outcome of projects across campus.

“Projects that took place in one Faculty last year are now exchanging notes and helping similar initiatives start in other Faculties,” he said. “There is an engaged community forming here to learn from best practices and implement them in a way that continues to draw upon Brock’s reputation as having one of the best student experiences in Canada.”

This year’s retention grant recipients are:

• Nursing student perceptions of their first-year year clinical course
• Basics Skills Module
• Student support funding for experiential learning in curriculum
• Brock BaseCamp
• Back to Class concussion integration
• Smart Start/Stay Smart
• Transfer Success Program revival
• Increasing retention through social integration of intramural participation
• Brock Society of Off-Campus Students (Brock SOCS)
• Survive, Revive, Thrive
• Student perceptions of high-impact practices (HIPS) and experiential education (EE)
• Finals All-in-One
• Conversation Partners
• Program advising/declaring a major for undeclared science students
• Using chatbots to deliver student information
• Graduate Students for Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environments
• FMSC 1P00 — Transitioning to University Science
• Brock University iGEM team
• Raising persistence and graduation rate for marginalized students: A holistic approach
• Library Indigenous reading collection and space
• Student wellness in the library
• Labour Studies as a retention hub
• HUMS 1P01: The Master Student
• Building social community: A continued initiative to increase belonging and retention among computer science students
• Lab Skills Plus
• Understanding the linkages of student well-being and retention
• The JED Campus Framework

Those wishing to learn more about Brock’s BU 4U Retention and Graduation Grants can contact vpemi@brocku.ca