With the receipt of $351,400 from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, IUP will continue its Act 101 Higher Education Equal Opportunity Program initiatives at the Indiana campus and add programming at IUP at Punxsutawney to assist qualified first-year students in making a successful transition to university life.
“IUP was one of the first institutions in 1971 to successfully secure funding for Act 101 programming, and we have continued to receive funding each year for students at the Indiana campus,” said Dr. Carmy Carranza, 17-year director of IUP's Act 101 program and a faculty member in the developmental studies department.
“We have a great deal of data that documents significant academic successes for those who have completed the program versus those students who did not participate. This year's additional funding of $137,500 specifically for students at IUP at Punxsutawney means that we can offer our program there to eligible students to help them to achieve their academic goals.”
The IUP developmental studies department serves as home to the Act 101 program.
Participating in the 2008–2009 Act 101 program will be three hundred students at the Indiana campus and one hundred at IUP at Punxsutawney. To participate, students must meet financial guidelines established by the state.
IUP's Act 101 program includes freshman-year advising from a faculty educational adviser, guaranteed enrollment in sections of three one-credit freshman-success courses, priority access to the peer assistance and tutorial programs provided by the Center for Learning Enhancement, educational assistance and mentoring by a paraprofessional peer adviser, and early scheduling of freshman fall term courses, with placement testing.
All of those initiatives will be offered to students at IUP at Punxsutawney, along with an additional program to help orient students to the Indiana campus when they complete their first year at the Punxsutawney campus.
Act 101 was established by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1971 to support services for undergraduate students whose economic, educational and cultural backgrounds might limit their success in achieving their goals in higher education.