Upward Bound

For over four decades, the college preparatory program, Upward Bound has been a pillar for high school students from low-income families and students from families in which neither parent possesses a bachelor’s degree. 

Upward Bound is the eldest among the TRIO Programs, which include Student Support Services, Ronald McNair Program, Educational Opportunity Centers and Educational Talent Search.  As a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty”, specific legislation for Upward Bound was initially authorized under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and was later included under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

The mission of Upward Bound is to provide participants with academic support services and cultural and social activities, thereby ensuring they will complete high school and enroll in college. The program at Fayetteville State University has been in existence since 1995 and has grown under the leadership of Executive Director of Special Programs, Dr. Dorothy Holmes.

The program targets students who attend E.E. Smith High School, Red Springs High School, Hoke County High School, and Pine Forest High School, but it is open to students from Cumberland, Hoke and Robeson Counties. 

Despite the fact that the program has proven to be effective in ensuring that disenfranchised high school students seek a post-secondary education, in recent years, the future of Upward Bound and other TRIO programs has been bleak. Thus, many college administrators and Upward Bound supporters have been hanging on hope for its survival. Unfortunately, their worst fears became reality when seven programs in North Carolina lost funding. 

In an interview with Dr. Holmes, she explained, “The Upward Bound proposal writing competition was held this year.  Nationwide, 97 programs were de-funded. Thirty percent of those were HBCUs, primarily in the southern region.”

This is certainly bad news for approximately 500 students in the state, who will be affected by this cut back in the federal budget. Fortunately, the staff and faculty in Special Programs at Fayetteville State University can expect to welcome Upward Bound students for at least five more years.

“In 2003, we had received a five-year grant, and we have one year remaining in that grant cycle. Several weeks ago, we learned that we will receive funding until 2012. This new grant will begin in the fall of 2008.  We were awarded $285,122 per year for a four year period, and that amount totals over $1.1 million.  Since 1995, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded FSU $4, 447,000 for its Upward Bound Program.”

Since 1992, Dr. Holmes has been responsible for bringing in over $16 million of grant funding to FSU.

“I enjoy doing what I do. I have a degree in sociology, and this is definitely a helping profession. It gives me the opportunity to work with students from middle school through college.”

In fact, the students are the prized products of these outreach programs.  Upward Bound coordinator, Ms. Nikki Massey agrees wholeheartedly.

She expressed, “Working with Upward Bound has been wonderful, especially coming from Educational Talent Search where I had to service 700 students.  With Upward Bound, I can establish a better rapport with the students. The students definitely depend on you…They have big dreams and big goals, and we’re here to assist and make sure they achieve them.”

At the closing of this past academic year, the program graduated 16 seniors, and fourteen are attending college in the fall.  Even better?! Ten will soon be proud Broncos.  Until then, Ms. Massey says they will be entering the CHEER Program, which is designed to help incoming freshman receive college credits during the summer.

The remaining four will also be attending FSU temporarily through the Upward Bound Summer Bridge Program, which will also provide them with the opportunity to get a head start on their college curriculum.
 

Should all go well, rising seniors Kiara Chapman and Christopher Jemmott will be in the next group of graduates headed for higher learning in 2008. 17 year-old Kiara, who is also a former GEAR UP participant and a student at E.E. Smith, testifies, “My math, science, and English skills improved since I’ve been in Upward Bound.  At first, I doubted myself in math, but later my grades got better.”

Kiara plans for a career in pediatrics and once wanted to attend UNC-Greensboro, but the Upward Bound program heightened her awareness of the many choices she has.  She and Christopher both say they were exposed to several colleges during campus tours that are offered through Upward Bound. Since then, applying at Winston-Salem State University has been an option Kiara is now considering. (Ironically, WSSU lost funding for its Upward Bound program, which had been in operation since 1964.)

Christopher, who is leaning toward Norfolk State University, joined Upward Bound in ninth grade with the encouragement of his parents and a family friend. Expressing his gratitude for the program, the aspiring business major shares, “I don’t know where I would be right now if I weren’t a part of Upward Bound. It keeps me busy on Saturdays and it’s been keeping me busy this summer.”

According to Dr. Holmes, the program at FSU is currently serving fifty-six  high school students, and thirty are attending a six-week summer residential camp.  A full schedule is mapped out for the college bound teens who will be attending math, English, science, and Spanish classes in the morning.  Following a lunch break, they will have courses in drama, speech, theater, and computer science.  The day culminates with workshops and other social activities.

The best is indeed saved for last when they will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Clark University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College. 

There is no doubt that the orchestration of the summer program has not been handled solely by Dr. Holmes. She credits Ms. Massey for a job well done throughout summer and the academic year as well.

“Ms. Massey has done a beautiful job since she became the coordinator for Upward Bound about a year ago. She runs the program on a daily basis.”

Dr. Holmes also acknowledges the team work of her temporary staff members that sacrifice their summer vacation to make it all happen. Altogether, there are six instructors, one residence director, and four resident assistants.

It’s been a long journey for the staff in FSU’s Special Programs, for with every grant cycle they are faced with the challenge of not knowing what obstacle may present itself around each corner.  Just last year, the department was hit hard with the loss of GEAR UP funding.  However, GEAR UP is still a partnership program among FSU, Cumberland County Schools, and other entities in the local community.  This partnership will continue to work together until the last cohort of rising 9th graders at E. E. Smith graduates.

Thankfully, for the Fayetteville community and the surrounding areas, the strong don’t get weary.

Dr. Holmes remains optimistic that Upward Bound will be around for years to come, yet she knows it was a huge hurdle to get over when FSU’s application was one of 1,032 this year. Out of that number, approximately 780 projects were funded.

“A team of readers review the proposals, and each reader reads three different proposals. Our proposal was evaluated by three different readers. The maximum score was 100, and the cut-off was 92. Existing programs have an advantage because they can receive up to fifteen points extra if they meet all of the program objectives, but if you don’t you could receive as low as a zero in that area. We suspect that may be what happened to other existing programs in this competition.”

Appalachian State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Johnson C. Smith are among some of those institutions who will be forced to phase out the program.

Recognizing that submitting the grant is no menial task or small feat, Dr. Holmes affirms, “We are just elated! It was a very difficult competition this year. We were really on the edge because we did not know what was going to happen.”