CCSN reaches out to help students in low-income areas

Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 10:02 a.m.

Information

Community College of Southern Nevada's Millennium Scholarship information nights, which include bilingual informational sessions for college-bound students and their parents, will be:

McCabe Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas, 2801 E. Stewart Ave.

Rafael Rivera Community Center, 2900 E. Stewart Ave.

West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

North Las Vegas Library, 2300 Civic Center Drive

In an effort to lower college dropout rates, Community College of Southern Nevada officials were to announce a campaign today to target needy students in low-income areas for early intervention programs.

The college will hold a series of bilingual information sessions over the next two months in North Las Vegas and surrounding areas. The purpose of the meetings is to reach out to low-income, disabled and first-generation students, as well as those who are on the state-sponsored Millennium Scholarship to ensure they receive enough support services.

"Our data says the sooner we get them in for counseling and other services, the more likely we are to retain them," said John Kinkella, CCSN's dean of counseling.

Kinkella said that many times students less familiar with the college enrollment process typically sign up too late for classes. Late enrollment often leads to high dropout rates because students either don't get the classes or the schedules they want.

The outreach program mainly targets Rancho, El Dorado, Cheyenne and Western high schools.

Over the last year the CCSN has spent $340,000 in state and federal aid to create a support network for needy students. Those services include the federally funded TRIO Mentoring Program and CCSN's College Retention Program, which offers career counseling, supplemental grants and tutoring.

Keeping minority students enrolled in college has been a particularly difficult task for most institutions, said Rene Cantu, CCSN's director of retention.

"If you think about students who are first in their family to go to college might not be aware of that these programs exist or how to take advantage of them," Cantu said.

The program has met with some success during its one year in operation. The number of black Millennium scholars enrolled at CCSN increased 2 percent in 2000-01. The number of Hispanic Millennium scholars went up 5 percent in the same year.

The Millennium Scholarship gives $10,000 over four years to Nevada students graduating from high school with a B average.

"This is our last ditch effort to get the word out about enrolling early before the flood gates open," Kinkella said.