Cutbacks in the state budget are threatening UB's Educational Opportunity Program, a state program that provides support services to disadvantaged, academically talented college students.
Next year, state funding to UB's EOP program will decrease 25 percent, supporting 734 students compared to this year's 1,000. UB boasts the largest EOP program in the SUNY system.
"It's great seeing what young people can do once they're given the opportunity," said Henry Durand, the program's director. "They wouldn't have had the chance otherwise."
UB administers the program in conjunction with the Office of Opportunity Program Services, a New York state service that supplies funding for the student's financial aid, counselors, tutoring and a pre-freshman summer program, which orients new students to the challenges of college life.
While the limited funding is not a malicious cutback, Durand assured, and is instead simply a part of the "state's barebones budget," it nevertheless leaves the program with a serious problem. At Wednesday's meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Durand expressed hope that another source will furnish the extra money needed to maintain EOP's current level of service.
The EOP program at UB aims to help its students adjust to the college lifestyle and requirements. The program's four-week long pre-freshman program places prospective students within a simulated college experience, complete with UB orientation, dorm and meal plan living, registration and financial aid advising, as well as placement testing.
"It is as much a cultural transition as it is an academic one. Most students are from urban and rural cultures. College life can be very intimidating," Durand explained.
One of the myths around the Educational Opportunity Program, according to Durand, is that it is reserved for African-Americans and Hispanics, groups that make up only 55 percent of the total enrollment in the program.
"We are very diverse when it comes to race, and our students' majors are across the board as well," said Durand.
The program continues to work with students once the semester begins. Each student is assigned a counselor for personal and crisis counseling, as well as financial and academic advice.
EOP students are provided with faculty liaisons, tutors and special seminars on everything from test-taking to time and budget management, all without charge to the students, according to Durand. Each year, the program seeks out students who would be willing to participate in EOP through a paid tutoring position.
"When you consider where they come from, the disadvantages they had, and what they are able to accomplish at the university," Durand said, "you could say that they're overachievers."
The average high school GPA of EOP students is 81 percent and the average SAT score is 930, while the averages of non-EOP students at UB are 90 percent and 1156, respectively. Eighty-five percent of all EOP students carry GPAs above 2.0 and a quarter of them rank above 3.0.
The national average of students in programs similar to EOP who graduate with four-year degrees is only 8 percent, but the program at UB boasts a 42-percent graduation rate. That figure does not include students who stopped attending, but later returned to finish their degrees. Incorporating such statistics, Durand said 67 percent of UB's EOP students graduate within six years.
"It is very gratifying work," he said. "There are no disgruntled employees on my staff. They don't have the highest salaries, but seeing the young people succeed is worth all the work."
Lourdis Ventura is an example of a student who graduated from UB with the aid of EOP. She used to send money home for her family and even persuaded her brother to come to UB, who has since graduated and now works for the New York Police Department. Today, Ventura is an assistant district attorney in New York City.
"I love telling that story," said Durand, smiling.
Durand is also a professor of statistics and survey research methods in the Graduate School of Education.
EOP is a New York State program, established in 1968. Sister programs exist elsewhere, such as the Educational Opportunity Fund in New Jersey, ACT101 in Pennsylvania and EOP in California. Information on the program is available by writing to the Director, EOP Program, University at Buffalo, 208 Norton Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. 14260 or by calling the office at 645-3072.
