4/21/ Mentoring Students Where They Are: Using E-Mentoring as a Retention Tool

4/21/ WHO IS COLLEGE NOW? College Now’s mission is to increase college attainment through college access and success advising, financial aid counseling, and scholarship and retention services.

4/21/ WHO IS COLLEGE NOW? College Now was established in 1966 as Cleveland Scholarship Programs, Inc. College Now, our name since 2011, has awarded $62 million in scholarship dollars since our inception 48 years ago. Providing college access and success advising, financial aid counseling and scholarship services in 200 schools and community-based venues across Northeast Ohio through outreach and collaboration and at our Resource Center in the Terminal Tower. Awarding $2.6 million in renewable scholarships annually to approximately 1,350 students pursuing postsecondary education. Offering effective retention services for our scholarship recipients, including a recently launched innovative mentoring program that pairs individuals from the community with our recipients through an interactive online initiative. College Now does all this on a $9 million budget! 3

4/21/ Increase postsecondary attainment through our layered approach Advising & Partnerships Mentoring Program Scholarships & Retention College Attainment WHO IS COLLEGE NOW?

4/21/ COLLEGE NOW’S SUCCESS Our scholarship recipients have a 90% retention rate, compared to 60% nationally for students from low-income backgrounds (retention refers to freshmen returning for their sophomore year). Our scholarship recipients have a 63% college graduation rate, which is nearly eight times higher than the 8% national college graduation rate for students from low-income backgrounds (based on six-year graduation rates). 5

4/21/ COLLEGE NOW MENTORING PROGRAM Historical overview, past attempts at mentoring programs Need for a mentoring program for our scholarship recipients Start up funding

4/21/ Pilot year –Build out –Goals (increase graduation rates) –Scale up Programmatic needs: –Platform (research) –Budget –Infrastructure –Staffing –Curriculum –Volunteer and student management –Expectations for both students (mentees) and mentors Goals and Outcomes COLLEGE NOW MENTORING PROGRAM

4/21/ PROGRAM GROWTH PLAN 8 Data taken (or estimated*) in first semester of each academic year * Projected totals

4/21/ MENTORING PROGRAM BUDGET # of pairs * 975* 1,100* 9 * Projected totals

4/21/ SCALING UP, DECREASING COSTS 10 * Projected totals # of pairs * 975* 1,100*

4/21/ MENTORS Volunteers recruited from the greater Cleveland area College educated Screened Oriented to program MENTORS AND MENTEES MENTEES College Now scholarship recipients enrolled in college All are Pell Grant-eligible Many are first-generation college students Oriented to program

4/21/ PROGRAM STRUCTURE Regular online communication Customized curriculum Bi-monthly s guided by prompts In-person activities and events Three times per year On-campus and downtown Impactful mentoring relationship

4/21/ PROGRAM STRUCTURE College Partnerships Cooperate to assist students through transition to college, identify resources Collaborate on dual events Community Networks Connect mentors, mentees Strengthen relationships with other Cleveland organizations Impactful mentoring program

4/21/ ONLINE MENTORING MODEL

4/21/ PRELIMINARY RESULTS 2011/2012 Cohort 2012/2013 Cohort 2013/2014 Cohort 2014/2015 Cohort Students in Cohort * Retention Rate (freshman to sophomore)100%93% Data forthcoming Persistence Rate (sophomore to junior)88% Data forthcoming Percent of Pairs Who Successfully Completed First Year of Mentoring Program 84%77%91% Data forthcoming Percent of Pairs Who Successfully Completed Second Year of Program 65%75% Data forthcoming * Projected total

4/21/ LESSONS LEARNED & BEST PRACTICES Manage volunteer mentor recruitment Improve continuously on program model Develop a sustainable funding model Evaluate to assess impact

4/21/ New partnerships with Cleveland’s business community –Mentors are drawn from over 250 companies Engagement opportunities with young professionals –47% of our mentors are under 35 Continued engagement with scholarship recipients –51 of our current mentors are former scholarship recipients Expanding board engagement –14 board members are mentors, and over 240 mentors are from board companies Broadens brand awareness Attracts new funders and opportunities to collaborate MANY ADDITIONAL ORGANIZATION BENEFITS

4/21/ AIG American Greetings Deloitte Eaton Corporation Ernst & Young Key Bank Lubrizol Corporation Medical Mutual Nordson Corporation PriceWaterhouseCoopers Progressive Insurance Sherwin Williams University Hospitals +200 more, and growing! ENGAGING CORPORATE CLEVELAND “One of the greatest challenges we face as an employer in this region is attracting and retaining a qualified workforce. College Now continues to work aggressively to close our community’s education gap and prepare students for today’s workforce by increasing the number of Northeast Ohio students who graduate from college. The Mentoring Program is a key component of this effort.” - Fiona Chambers, Managing Tax Partner at Deloitte, and College Now Board Member 18

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