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All community-based organizations, including public libraries, that reach youth and/or their parents or caregivers are invited to apply for a $500 mini-grant from the College for Texans Campaign - due by Nov. 14, 2003: www.thecb.state.tx.us/SAMC/Minigrants/ The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) invites Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to participate in the College for Texans Campaign resulting from Senate Bill 573 (passed in the 77th legislative session of 2001, and codified in the Texas Education Code, at � 61.951.) The law requires that THECB administer a statewide campaign to assure that parents and students understand the importance of higher education and how to prepare for it academically and financially. The campaign is also one of the major strategies of the state's education strategic plan, called Closing the Gaps by 2015. The goal of the campaign is to bring into higher education by 2015 an additional 300,000 people prepared to succeed who are not expected, based on current enrollment trends, to enroll in a Texas college or university. CBOs that serve families, i.e., parents and/or children or youth, are invited to be voluntary partners in the campaign. These CBOs will serve as a local "point-of-sale" or distribution network for the information we need to get to families. Our target parents may not attend meetings at the public school, thus we must work with grassroots groups that have connection to these parents. CBOs provide a link to families that we would not otherwise have. THECB has prepared a GO kit with a series of free train-the-trainer modules with age-appropriate, interactive activities and presentations for parents and their children, from preschool through the first year of college. These resources show families how to begin and stay on the college-going path. The English and Spanish materials are especially targeted to parents with no college-going experience themselves. CBOs interested in supporting the campaign are invited to attend an orientation meeting about the campaign and about CBO mini-grants in their region in October or early November 2003. For a list of meeting locations and dates, visit www.Education-GoGetIt.com. Although CBOs are asked to volunteer their efforts to support the goals of the campaign, THECB is making mini-grants available to participating CBOs to be used to provide incentives to parents and/or children or youth to attend CBO activities or presentations from the training modules. For example, funds may be used for visits to nearby community colleges or universities by parent or student groups for an age-appropriate college orientation. If trips are financed with a campaign mini-grant, it is required that trip participants also participate in the age-level activities or presentations from the GO kit before or during their trip. Mini-grants cannot be used to pay staff salaries, or to purchase or rent equipment, other than transportation to area colleges or universities. This year, mini-grant recipients may use the funds to provide food for participants in a campaign activity, as long as the food is meant as an incentive to get parents to students to attend the event, and the GO kit activities are presented at the activity. By law, food bought with these funds may not be used by state employees. CBO mini-grants will be awarded competitively in each of the 20 public education regions and THECB staff will evaluate proposals and award grants. A map of the regions and the criteria scoring sheet to be used by evaluators is posted on the campaign website at www.Education-GoGetIt.com. Criteria used to evaluate CBO proposals give credit to collaborative efforts, feasible and practical proposals, proposals that clearly indicate that higher education activities will be done with campaign target audiences (first-generation, minority parents and students), cultural competency, the ability to leverage resources and provide in-kind resources to the project, and a willingness to "institutionalize" higher education messages in the CBO's work as opposed to a one-time activity. Please visit www.thecb.state.tx.us/SAMC/Minigrants/ for your (1) easy-to-complete application -- due by Nov. 14 -- with complete eligibility information and other helpful details, (2) evaluation-selection criteria, (3) lists of organizations that received $500 mini-grants during our first round of grants, (4) a final report form -- due by Sept. 15, 2004 -- and more. Alice V. White, PhD mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] College for Texans Campaign 512-427-6138 Financial Aid 1-888-311-8881 www.Education-GoGetIt.com
