Annual Report 2019-2020
Expanding Access to Quality Education
Bowie State University is expanding its reach by providing quality educational experiences to underserved populations.
Opening Quality Education to More Students
In its 155-year history, community building has been one of the hallmarks of Bowie State University’s kinetic and expanding campus culture. Taking academic lessons from the classroom into the real world, faculty and students are nurturing mutual connections with people and institutions in the local area and beyond that create measurable impact. The university has strengthened existing strategic partnerships and developed new educational opportunities for underserved students.
“Bowie State University, we're doing some great things. We're thinking outside the box. This is just one broad initiative we're launching,” Dr. Charles Adams said of the Second Chance Pell Experiment, a five-year-old federal education program that gives incarcerated students need-based federal Pell Grants for postsecondary education. BSU became one of 67 host colleges or universities selected by the U.S. Department of Education. The goal, Adams says, is to facilitate sustainable, structural change.
“They’ll be able to come out and provide for themselves and their family, which will reduce recidivism and the cost of incarceration. We're not looking to be a quick solution,” he added, “but we can give people this type of tool to say, ‘Look, this is how we break the cycle.’ It's not Band-Aid. It's a mind shift. Once you change the way you think, you change your behavior. It's a long-term solution.”
New Pathways to Success
Carving educational pathways for students who have been historically underrepresented, particularly African-Americans, means creating accessibility. It is the impetus for a comprehensive partnership with Baltimore City Community College that empowers its students to transition their completed credits to BSU to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Expanding the college-to-career pipeline is also the driving force behind the university’s focus on strategic partnerships. Assata Ward, a junior planning a future in cybersecurity, received BSU’s inaugural Coast Guard College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative scholarship, a signature part of the BSU-Coast Guard partnership. The scholarship program covers two years’ tuition and educational expenses. Plus, it extends full pay and active duty benefits to each recipient.
“My dad was also in the military, doing information technology and cybersecurity in the Navy, and I really look up to him. I'm kind of following in his footsteps, so when I heard about this program, it was just great,” said Ward. “Their mission is to have more minorities as officers, so I can't wait to see where I go in my career with the Coast Guard.”
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