Why children are getting and what UB is - University at Buffalo

From his inauguration as president in
2004 to his current advocacy of funding
reform, John B. Simpson has championed
further avenues of access, enrichment and
support.
The three main access programs are the
Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP), the Academic Challenge
and Enrichment (ACE) individualized
admissions program and Student Support
Services (SSS), a federally funded TRIO
program that assists low-income, firstgeneration
students and students with
disabilities. They are part of the Center for
Academic Development Services (CADS),
a unique support network of ten programs
at UB that helps talented students from
disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds
and involves them in all aspects of
university life.
The EOP is the oldest access program
at UB, established in 1968, and the largest
EOP program in New York State. It
provides a vehicle for admission for state
residents and a range of academic and
advising support services.
“We think of ourselves as a family. We
provide extensive academic, personal,
social and financial assistance,” says EOP
associate director H. William Coles, PhD
’84, MA ’79 & BA ’69. “These are bright
kids who need the kind of environment
that says, ‘Hey, you can do it, and we are
here to help.’”
ACE is among the newest access programs,
initiated six years ago for first-time
freshmen who do not meet the regular
admissions requirement, but who do show
great potential for academic success. The
program enhances diversity at UB by welcoming
a broader range of academically
talented students.
Programs like the EOP have stringent
financial qualifications for those who are
accepted. “Financially, they have to be
very, very poor, [with] family incomes no
more than 150 percent of [the] poverty
[level],” says Henry Durand, senior associate
vice provost of undergraduate education
and executive director of CADS.
Program access extends to those high
school students who are evaluated as
being both educationally and financially
disadvantaged, but who demonstrate the
talent and ability to succeed in a college
curriculum.
Other CADS programs are in the
areas of academic enrichment and support,
including the Collegiate Science and
Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) that
provides minority and/or economically
disadvantaged students with the opportunity
to explore scientific, technical and
health-related professions; and the Public
Internship Program that gives students the
opportunity to gain direct exposure to and
practical experience from a diverse range
of public, private, government or community
service agencies and businesses.
To illustrate the significance of the
university’s access enrollment, the total
number of students in all of the CADS programs
is nearly 20 percent of UB’s undergraduate
population. CADS students are
members of deans’ lists and also honor
societies, and are recognized nationally
and statewide.
UB also provides windows of opportunity
to everyone from adult learners
through the preparatory programs for twoand
four-year collegiate experiences in the
Educational Opportunity Center (EOC), to
middle and high school students in area
school districts through various programs
of college-level study.
The recent pre-K–16 partnership with
the Buffalo Public Schools has broadened
this community effort by coordinating
diverse resources at UB to
increase the number of students interested
in and ready for college through
UB’s newly established Center for
Educational Collaboration to accelerate,
engage and prepare students for
success in college and beyond.
The university’s many avenues that
access higher education continue to flourish
in the experiences of a cross-section
of current UB students whose voices of
achievement follow.
“I think we’re seeing more alumni who live outside
Western New York sending their kids back to UB because
of their own positive experiences.”
Letitia Thomas, PhD ’06, MA ’00 & EdM ’93, assistant vice provost, director of the
Cora P. Maloney College and director of the UB Bridge to the Doctorate program
Jackee Montano
Psychology
Daniel Acker Scholars
Program
I’m from the Greater Los Angeles area, from a
Mexican-American family, the only one to go
to college. It was going to be a struggle for my
family to pay for college.
A mentorship in high school encouraged
me to seek a college anywhere because my
grades and test scores were good enough. I
typed in “most diverse schools in America” as
a search and UB came up as one of the top
schools. UB said we want you, we want this
diversity in our school. It felt more welcome.
I like the atmosphere here; there’s no status
separation. It’s exciting to see everyone grow
in their own way.
I’ve been interested in psychology since
eighth grade. I was around a lot of different
people who did a lot of things considered out
of the norm or even deviant. I guess it was my
inclination to always want to figure somebody
out, to justify them.
>>
Jahmil Campbell
Electrical Engineering
Bridge to the Doctorate
All the support services that I’ve gotten were
invaluable to me in obtaining my undergraduate
degree. My plan is to get my master’s by
June and continue on to the PhD program
here. The end ideal is that we get PhDs and
become professors, hopefully
at this institution.
I’ve had a couple of teachers
that have made me
want to become a teacher.
If I could teach science
that way, then maybe
we’d have a lot more kids
coming out of inner-city
schools who want to be
engineers. I want to be able to give back to
the educational system that gave me what I
have today.
This program was a godsend. UB is good at
disseminating information on co-ops and
internships. They’re giving us all the support
that we need to continue our education on
our own merit.
24 Winter 2009 UBTODAY www.alumni.buffalo.edu