Abigail Panter, senior associate dean for undergraduate education and a psychology professor, secured the grant for the Finish Line Project a program that will collaborate with the School of Education, the Center for Faculty Excellence and the American Indian Center to increase retention and affordability.
“We’re thrilled about it,” Panter said. “We were dancing down the halls when we heard.”
UNC’s 2009 four-year graduation rate of 81.8 percent is high in comparison to other schools receiving the grant, but there is still concern for the graduation rates of specific groups, including transfer, first-generation and students from rural communities, said Panter, who serves as the Finish Line Project’s principal investigator.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded the First in the World grant to UNC and 23 other colleges out of 500 applicants throughout the nation. UNC was the only school in North Carolina to receive the grant.
The grant went into effect Wednesday and will support the program for four years. However, the University has made a commitment to the long-term success of the program, even after the four years is finished, said Cynthia Demetriou, director for undergraduate retention and the Finish Line Project’s executive director.
The program will focus on historically underserved students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, providing them with the guidance and resources necessary to succeed, Panter said.
“With early intervention, students could make it through challenging introductory STEM courses and realize they could potentially choose science as a career,” Panter said. “It could help students to keep taking science courses and continue in those majors.”
The program will also work to resolve discrepancies between community college and the UNC curricula .
