UW-Green Bay receives grant to help students access continuing education

By Eva Westein

Contributing Author

GREEN BAY – The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has received a $50,000 grant from the University of Wisconsin System to provide individual counseling and support to current and prospective students who have experiences with foster care, homelessness, being orphaned or being wards of the state.

With the funds from this grant, students will have access to a legal guardian, basic housing amenities, and emergency allowances for unforeseen expenses.

Students will also have the opportunity to participate in a monthly “family dinner” event where speakers will share information and advice to help them continue pursuing their degrees.

The Dean of Students’ Office will be responsible for the implementation of the program, and will work closely with the Recruitment and Admissions Department.

The entire initiative will help UW-Green Bay provide access to education for all who want to learn in an affordable and sustainable way.

“It’s in our mission to make sure that everyone who wants to pursue a college education can get one. We don’t want people to feel like college is out of reach. And this is a group of students who are traditionally under-resourced, so now we have the resources to meet those needs and help not only connect with them but also provide them with the resources to continue their education to graduation,” said UW-Green Bay Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Gail Sims-Aubert.

Sims-Aubert and Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Jen Jones are leading the initiative.

Their shared goal of breaking down the barriers students face helped them see the need for a program like this on campus and motivated them to work to provide the necessary resources and infrastructure.

For Jones, the goal of this project is to help students break the cycle and make an impact.

“I really want more students to take advantage of the benefits of a higher education because I know those benefits will help them in the long run. It’s kind of a legacy. If students can get a higher education, their family, community and neighborhood will be better off in the long run,” she said.

Jones also points to the long-term effects this support could have.

“Every student that we help, who might not have had access to higher education without an ad hoc grant, without the support of a worker who came in and said, ‘I see you, I understand you. You don’t have to tell me your story, I’ll just help you through this,’ every person who comes forward because it has a knock-on effect on everyone else in their life… that’s life-changing.”

Both Jones and Sims-Aubert agree that the most important factor in the success of this initiative is getting the word out.

“We really need to raise awareness that we can’t write these students off, and we need to be having conversations with foster kids early on and often to help them plant the seed of belief that college is a possibility for them,” Sims-Aubert explained.

For more information, please visit our website at (email protected) or contact us at 920-465-2152.