NEWS

Drury awarded federal grant to help migrant workers, families

Claudette Riley
CRILEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Drury University announced Tuesday that it was awarded a five-year federal grant to improve access to higher education for migrant workers and their families in southwest Missouri.

The effort will be concentrated at the university's campus in Monett, where there is a large and mostly Hispanic migrant population.

"There is no culture of going to college," said Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols, a Spanish professor and director of the new Drury program. "In fact, the expectation is to go to work as soon as possible."

Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols

The Drury College of Continuing Professional Studies was awarded the five-year, $1.94 million College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program is called "Somos" — Spanish for "we are."

The grant will pay for three full-time and three part-time staff members at Drury's campus in Monett. They will work to identify, recruit and support migrant students.

Among other things, the grant will fund classroom technology such as laptops and living expenses such as child care reimbursement.

"It's all about removing barriers to higher education," she said.

Nichols, who will oversee the program, said the first cohort of Somos students will begin classes this month in Monett. The goal is to serve at least 20 students during the first year.

"We still have spots open in the fall and spring," she said.

She said the program will provide resources to bolster the outreach that the university started in the migrant community.

“Drury’s Monett campus has a long history of providing personalized, supportive education to the area’s first generation college students and the Hispanic community,” she said in a news release. "This grant provides the funding to allow the excellent advising, mentoring and educating currently going on in Monett to expand and work more efficiently.”

Nichols said the university will partner with the Monett Chamber of Commerce to provide a leadership training program. One goal is to help prepare more Hispanic men and women to serve in leadership roles.

"They see there is a need and a possibility of improving the economic outlook for the area," she said. "They want to see more Spanish-speaking teachers and managers."

To make that happen, the Somos program plans to provide training on technology, offer instruction in math and English and encourage migrant teens and others to seek a college degree.

The Drury campus in Monett offers bachelor's degrees in business and management, elementary and secondary education and science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — career areas. It has a history of working with nontraditional students, including many who are the first in their families to go to college.

“The CAMP program provides vital resources to help students pursue a higher education and all of the opportunities that come with it,” said U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, in the release. “I’m proud this grant award will allow the exceptional faculty and staff at Drury University to reach more students and their families, and enable them take the next step toward realizing the American Dream.”

Nichols said the outreach must include the young people as well as their families.

“Providing specialized services to allow new first-year students to succeed at the college level will help these students proceed and persist to graduation,” she said, in the release. “Families, along with the local and regional economy will then benefit by the increase in educated employees and the ability of local businesses to grow.”

The need

In applying for the federal grant, Drury University cited the following demographic information and the need for more college-educated, Spanish-speaking employees and community leaders: 

• The Tyson Foods plant in Monett has an employee workforce that is approximately 30 percent Hispanic and the EFCO (Pella Windows) plant has a workforce that is approximately 25 percent Hispanic.

• Monett area employers say a great need exists for Hispanic employees at the management and executive levels. 

• Population studies conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center (2009) and the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (2011) have estimated Missouri’s migrant and/or seasonal farmworkers population to be 35,000 and 65,000, respectively, representing 15,000 to 31,000 families.

•Missouri has nearly 108,000 farms, and agriculture is one of the state’s top industries and largest employers.

Want to go?

A kick-off event to celebrate the creation of the Somos program will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Drury Monett campus, 400 4th St. The event is open to the public. 

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