The University of Tennessee Southern

Title III Grant

Overview

In October 2020 the University of Tennessee Southern (at that time still Martin Methodist College) began implementing a five-year Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant, totaling over 2 million dollars, to fund Project IMPACT (Improving Martin through Programs, Access, Case Management, and Technology). 

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Learn More About Title III Grants
Grant Process and Overview
Title III Contacts

Grant Results after Four Years

28%

Enrollment increase since grant

80%

Decrease in students on academic suspension

11%

Increase in student fall-to-fall persistence

About the Title III Grant

The U.S. Department of Education awards such grants competitively to eligible institutions of higher education to help them become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students, by providing funds to improve and strengthen the institution’s academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability.

The overarching goal of UT Southern’s Project IMPACT is to increase enrollment, increase year-to-year persistence, and increase degree completion by: 1) offering new degree programs, 2) expanding distance learning, 3) and improving case management and data analytics.

During the initial four years of the grant, the University has made significant progress on all three activities. It has developed curricula, hired new faculty, and launched undergraduate degree programs in three high-demand STEM areas–Computer Information Systems, Cybersecurity, and Public Health Education. It has significantly expanded the number of courses offered in online and hybrid delivery format. And to better support those courses, it has hired a Distance Learning Coordinator and upgraded the campus’s technological infrastructure. To better support student case management, it has hired a Student Success Coordinator and implemented FireHawk 360 student success management software.

Grant Results

The results of these measures have been significant. Over the initial four years of the grant, for example, the University has increased its enrollment by over 28%, this during a time of overall decline in enrollment at both the state and national levels.

The University has been able to better retain these students, as well, and to move them toward graduation. Fall-to-fall persistence of all students increased during these four years by 11%, and fall-to-fall persistence of first-time full-time students increased by an impressive 20%.

The number of students placed on academic suspension after the fall semester decreased, as well, by an even more impressive 80%. These achievements have been due in large part to the work of the Student Success and Distance Learning Coordinators and to the other curriculum and technology measures enabled by the Title III grant.

Title III Grant Contacts

For more information about The University of Tennessee Southern’s Title III grant or its student success and distance learning initiatives, please contact: