DePaul University
ER-2: Student Sustainability Outreach Campaign

1) STARS Peer Mentoring Program / Retention and Graduation Yield:
Each year all first year students of color are automatically enrolled in the S.T.A.R.S (Students Together Are Reaching Success) mentoring program. S.T.A.R.S is a program that is specifically designed not only to help these students with their transition process from high school to college, but to also increase both retention and graduation rates. Each student is paired up with a peer mentor in their academic college with whom they have bi-weekly meetings face to face and substantial virtual contact during off weeks. At these mentor-mentee meetings, the mentors focus the conversation on: academics, finances, personal wellness, social involvement, and leadership development. The Office of Multicultural Student Success works closely with both the mentors and mentees to enhance the overall experience for first year students in various ways. In addition to access to resources through their peer mentors, S.T.A.R.S mentees also have access to professional staff advising, academic success resources and a social community affiliated with The Office of Multicultural Student Success. The Vincentian foundation of S.T.A.R.S. is based off the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, in which mentees and mentors focus upon individual leadership development during the fall quarter, group development during the winter quarter, and community development during the Spring quarter. Development occurs during weekly professional development workshops with the mentors and during bi-weekly meetings with mentees.

2) Men of Color Initiative – First-Year Program for Academic Retention and Transition (1st-PART):
The 1st-PART of the MOC Initiative is designed for first-year students involved in the Men of Color Initiative to achieve academic success by focusing efforts in two different components. The first component is the peer to peer mentoring in which a first-year student is paired with an MOC peer mentor. Peer Mentors are required to be in contact with their student in some capacity every week and are asked to meet, in person, every other week. The Academy is the second component in which students are invited to a seminar-style meeting on a weekly basis. At these meetings, students are given information they need to be successful at DePaul.

3) Voters Registration Campaign:
Students were registered to vote by the VOICES Project Interns prior to an election process to have the ability to vote locally and nationally.

4) Winter Leadership Conference:
The Winter Leadership Conference (WLC) is a free weekend retreat experience designed to engage students in a values-based, experiential curriculum that will foster personal leadership development, build a diverse community, and establish meaningful student relationships About 150 students and staff go on a weekend conference focused on the Social Change model of leadership. Students participate in small and large group activities to support growth and development.

5) Leadership Kick-Off:
Welcome event at the beginning of the academic year to welcome students back to campus and provide an opportunity to become familiar with programs and services offered through the Student Leadership Institute.

6) Residential Education ECO Marketing Campaigns:
Students in one residence hall were targeting with varying messages regarding energy usage. Each floor was provided with different messages regarding energy, with the intended outcome of reducing energy use. The undergraduate student coordinating the project was supervised by a member of the Environmental Science department, with minor collaborations from Residential Education.

1) STARS Peer Mentoring Program/Retention and Graduation Yield:

The average STARS mentee first to second year retention rate over the past 13 years is 88.3% compared to the overall DePaul first to second year retention rate during the same time period of 76.8%. The retention rates were 86.1% and 89% respectively over the last two years of the program. In addition to retention rates, the STARS program utilizes the university’s Academic Success Metric of 48 credit hours earned and a 2.5 GPA or higher to indicate academic success in their first year. For the 2009 cohort, 60% African American STARS participants met this metric versus 48% of African American first year students who did not participate in STARS. Additionally 65% of Hispanic STARS participants met this metric versus 60% of Hispanic first year students not participating in STARS.
Beyond first year measures of success, we see similar differences in 4 and 6 year graduation rates for STARS participants versus the rest of their peer group. In the 2003 cohort of African American students, 33% of STARS participants graduated in 4 years and 60.2% graduated in 6 years, versus 27.4% of non-participants graduating in 4 years and 48.1% graduating in 6 years. There are similar results in the 2003 cohort of Hispanic students; 45.6% of STARS participants graduated in 4 years and 69.9% graduated in 6 years, versus 28.3% of non-participants graduating in 4 years and 50.7% graduating in 6 years

2) Men of Color Initiative – First-Year Program for Academic Retention and Transition (1st-PART):
Students who participated in the first-year component of the MOC Initiative in 2008 and 2009 had retention rates that were 5 percentage points higher than their non-MOC counterparts. The retention rates were 90% and 92.6% respectively over the first two years of the program. For the 2009 cohort, the Academic Success Metric (48 credit hours and a 2.5 GPA or higher) was met at a higher rate for MOC participants than for those who were not in MOC. This number represents an increase of 7 percentage points over the 2008 MOC cohort. Between the 2008 and 2009 years, the MOC Initiative instituted the MOC Academy as a way to address the lower attainment of the Academic Success Metric.

3) Voters Registration Campaign:
In 2008, 1400 students registered to vote.
In 2010, another 250 students were registered to vote.

4) Winter Leadership Conference:
In 2008, 134 students attended WLC.
In 2009, 131 students attended.
In 2010, we had 134 students in attendance.

5) Leadership Kick-Off:
In 2008, 75 students attended the Leadership Kick-Off. In 2009, 75 students attended. In 2010, 104 students were in attendance.

6) Residential Education ECO Marketing Campaigns:
Based on the baseline recorded by the student, every floor had energy usage reductions and all but one of the four floors has saved the “most” energy during different periods of the year.

The information provided is limited to DePaul University's Division of Student Affairs, Steans and Egan Urban Centers, and one initiative in the College of Law (DePaul University College of Law Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative), and Campus Recreation.

Additional Websites:
Office of Multicultural Student Success - Men of Color Initiative
http://www.studentaffairs.depaul.edu/omss/moc.html

Student Leadership Institute - Voters Registration Campaign, Winter Leadership Conference, Leadership Kick-Off
http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/sli/about/index.asp

Residential Education, ECO Marketing
http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/resed/index.html