Peoria Promise Changes Implemented from January 2013 to Present
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In an effort to increase the transparency, accountability and long-term sustainability of the Peoria Promise Foundation (hereinafter “PPF”), several structural and institutional policy refinements have been identified and implemented during the past two years. The following is a brief summary of those changes.
The previous PPF scholarship application process was owned and conducted entirely by Illinois Central College (hereinafter “ICC”), through the ICC Educational Foundation. An online application is now provided to students through the PPF website, ensuring full process control, accuracy and data ownership.
The ICC application process did not allow PPF access to ANY basic contact information, including student name. The new application requires a student signed FERPA waiver, allowing PPF full, legal ownership and access to financial and educational records, necessary to track and report measurable outcomes.
Memberships established with nationally recognized organizations, such as ACT and the National Student Clearinghouse, allow PPF to monitor college and career readiness indicators and report educational outcomes, such as institutional transfer activity and earned workforce-readiness credentials (any degree and/or certification).
The ICC Educational Foundation managed all aspects of PPF fund distribution, eliminating the ability for PPF to accurately account for donor dollars. Moving forward, all funds will be distributed by PPF, ensuring all available financial assistance is fully utilized.
Awards will be disbursed by PPF in the form of a tuition reimbursement. Only successfully completed coursework (grade of “C” or better) will be eligible for reimbursement.
Rather than determining funding levels based solely on the number of grades completed in public school, all students will have the ability to control the amount of funding they receive. Academic performance and civic engagement will also be measured on a weighted matrix, referred to as a Calculated Benefit Percentage.
A fully staffed office has been established in the heart of the city, allowing greater visibility to the public and student access to resources and needed assistance.
Future Challenges:
Short Term: The Caterpillar Foundation (CF) has generously awarded $200,000 annually (2008-2014) to the PPF program. It is clearly understood by PPF that grant requests are based on CF available of funds on hand and not guaranteed. Available programmatic outcomes (see below) and future policy changes have been praised by the Caterpillar Foundation (CF). It is presumed that evidence of the value and impact this program has on City of Peoria residents has prompted this donor to request an immediate expansion of the current eligibility requirements to include residents of the City of East Peoria. Recently, the 2015 grant request of $200,000 was approved by CF, however new restrictions on the use of those funds $100,000 for City of Peoria residents and $100,000 to expand the program to East Peoria residents have been imposed. Unfortunately, this means PPF will receive a maximum award of $100,000 for City of Peoria residents, a 50% reduction of the overall amount granted, regardless of any expansion.
Because of this unforeseen shortfall, all PPF efforts must be focused on replacing and increasing the program funding needed for currently eligible, City of Peoria residents. Additionally, implementation of the new PPF policy changes will require a minimum of one full year of new data to adequately evaluate PPF’s fiduciary responsibly and commitment. Therefore, an expansion of the program, to any sector or in any direction, it is not possible in the foreseeable future.
MISSION STATEMENT: Provide funding to eligible high school graduates living in the City of Peoria to pursue college or a vocational program.
Peoria Promise Changes Implemented from January 2013 to Present
NEW MISSION STATEMENT: Provide funding to eligible high school graduates living in the City of Peoria to pursue college or a vocational program.
DETAILED REPORT:
Institution of Internal Student Application Process and Information Ownership:
In order to meet the reporting requirements to substantiate corporate social responsibility initiatives, non-profit organizations must possess the ability to capture and report accurate, objective, measurable outcomes. Simply reporting metrics (outputs), which many area non-profit organizations mistakenly believe are outcomes, will no longer suffice. During the initial years, the PPF application and award process was conducted entirely by ICC. This did not allow PPF to have access to basic student information including names necessary to track and measure program outcomes. After a year of research and strategizing with donors, and specifically following the advice of the Caterpillar Foundation (hereinafter “CF”) our core donor, PPF identified the nature and type of outcomes needed to provide donors with verification of return on investment.
This collaborative effort resulted in the development and implementation of a PPF online application and award process, conducted in-house by PPF. By taking this step, PPF now has legal ownership of all student submitted information including personal, academic and financial records which is pertinent to track, measure and report program outcomes. Through new memberships with ACT and the National Student Clearinghouse, PPF will monitor college and career readiness indicators and report educational outcomes, such as institutional transfer activity and earned workforce-readiness credentials (any degree and/or certification), throughout a student’s lifetime. These donor recommended changes allow PPF to provide measurable outcomes, ensuring donors receive the highest return on investment. Additional benefits include, but are not limited to: increased autonomy; improved accuracy; greater program flexibility; continued fiscal control; further refinement and development of policies; strategic, healthy, manageable program development; and increased long-term sustainability.
Peoria Promise Board of DirectorsShift from a Universally Awarded Program to a Merit Based Reimbursement Program:
With the most benevolent of intentions, the visionary PPF founders followed the “universal access” eligibility requirements established by the first place-based scholarship program in the country, the Kalamazoo (MI) Promise. The eligibility policy provided nearly every City of Peoria public high school graduate the opportunity to receive funding, based on the number of grades completed in public school and awarded on a sliding scale. Beginning in early 2013, it was evident that a few donors had not maintained their previous levels of engagement and financial support. After consulting with donors and conducting extensive research, PPF identified a general discomfort with the universal eligibility policy. By its very nature, this policy may have unintentionally reduced or eliminated student engagement, accountability and perceived value of the program. For some students, this lack of “skin in the game” resulted in ambivalence to setting and achieving goals, such as successful completion of coursework and/or a program of study, and inadvertently created a culture of entitlement. Again, donors were consulted and research was conducted to identify solutions to increase student accountability without deterring college enrollment while simultaneously coming into alignment with the corporate social responsibility goals of donors. Therefore, PPF has implemented new eligibility and award policies.
First, the inflexibility of the sliding scale prevented students from increasing their funding level, regardless of academic success or civic involvement. This may have contributed to a lack of motivation and over-all student success. The sliding scale has been replaced by a weighted matrix, referred to as a Calculated Benefit Percentage. The levels of award determined by the calculated benefit percentage were established based upon liberal standards that allow the majority of qualifying students an opportunity to receive award, and ALL students the opportunity to work toward maximizing that percent each year. The matrix awards points to students, based on individual performance, in four academic categories and allows up to three additional “bonus points” to be earned to increase funding. This provides an incentive for students to maximize their award by working to optimize school attendance and class completion, academic performance and community involvement.
Peoria Promise Board of DirectorsSecond, the PPF funding distribution has shifted from an upfront financial commitment for any and all attempted coursework, to an out-of-pocket tuition reimbursement to students earning a grade of “C” or better. Tuition reimbursement reinforces the students own investment to his/her education, while simultaneously reducing PPF’s financial risk involved in supporting unmotivated students. It is estimated that by implementing the weighted matrix and reimbursement policies, PPF will increase student accountability and academic outcomes; improve transparency and operational efficiency; and provide maximum impact and return on investment for donors. See attachment “A”
Additional Changes:
In the past two years, PPF has established a singularly controlled internal operations system, a “bricks and mortar” office, increased personnel to develop and implement PPF operations, and has recruited new board members to better reflect donor thought processes and needs. Most notably, it has been the above changes that best reflect what PPF is now, and its ability to be one of the few non-profits in this area that can not only make positive changes to local employer workforce needs, but can prove by its outcomes that it is in fact ‘moving the needle.’ See attachment “B”
Future Challenges:
Short Term: The Caterpillar Foundation (CF) has generously awarded $200,000 annually (2008-2014) to the PPF program. It is clearly understood by PPF that grant requests are based on CF available of funds on hand and not guaranteed. Available programmatic outcomes (see graphs below and attachment “C”) and future policy changes have been praised by the Caterpillar Foundation (CF). It is presumed that evidence of the value and impact this program has on City of Peoria residents has prompted this donor to request an immediate expansion of the current eligibility requirements to include residents of the City of East Peoria. Recently, the 2015 grant request of $200,000 was approved by CF, however new restrictions on the use of those funds $100,000 for City of Peoria residents and $100,000 to expand the program to East Peoria residents—have been imposed. Unfortunately, this means PPF will receive a maximum award of $100,000 for City of Peoria residents, a 50% reduction of the overall amount granted, regardless of any expansion.
Peoria Promise Board of DirectorsBecause of this unforeseen shortfall, all PPF efforts must be focused on replacing and increasing the program funding needed for currently eligible, City of Peoria residents. Additionally, implementation of the new PPF policy changes will require a minimum of one full year of new data to adequately evaluate PPF’s fiduciary responsibly and commitment. Therefore, an expansion of the program, to any sector or in any direction, it is not possible in the foreseeable future.
Long Term: The majority of “Promise” organizations across the country were founded by multi-million endowments from primary donors, guaranteeing the financial resources needed to continue their program into perpetuity. On the contrary, PPF was started by the sheer will power of several local leaders whose goal was to make Peoria a better place for those who live here now and for those who will choose to make Peoria their future home. Foundational requirements of PPF will include increasing financial support and continued assessment of effective policies and procedures to ensure the dreams of the founding members, and the students we support, will be realized.
OUTCOMES: Reported by the National Student Clearinghouse, December, 2014:
Bachelor’s Degrees: 133
Associate Degrees: 250
Certifications: 69
Peoria Promise Board of DirectorsIf your application for Peoria Promise is approved, your benefit percentage will be calculated by utilizing a point system. Your out-of-pocket tuition payments will be reimbursed for successfully completed coursework. Only courses with grades of a C or better will be reimbursed. Points are totaled based on the following factors:
• Length of residency at a qualifying address and number of completed grades at a qualifying public school
• Attendance Record / Course Completion
• Cumulative Grade Point Average
• ACT score
• Extra-Curricular Activity - BONUS POINT!
• Community Service / Volunteerism - BONUS POINT!
• Employment and/or Internship - BONUS POINT!
View the student scenarios below as examples of how the point system works to calculate your benefit percentage.
Now is the time to plan your scenario! Consider how you stack up in each category and identify those areas in which you can increase your benefit percentage.
Residency / Length of Attendance
Points are earned according to the length of residency at a qualifying address and the number of completed grades at a qualifying public school.
Attendance Record / Course Completion
Points are earned according to high school attendance record and/or successful course completion rate at ICC for that semester as verified by official transcripts.
Grade Point Average
Points are earned according to cumulative grade point average (GPA) as verified by official transcripts.
ACT Score
Points are earned according to composite ACT test score as verified by official transcripts.
BONUS POINTS: Extra-Curricular Activity, Community Service, Employment / Internship
Additional points are earned for activities and contributions outside the classroom. Only one point can be earned for each type of activity.
Add your points and refer to the chart to estimate your benefit percent. You can increase your points each semester by working to improve your success in each category.
Peoria Promise is a 100% donor-funded scholarship that provides out-of-pocket tuition reimbursement opportunities for qualifying city of Peoria students who successfully complete coursework at Illinois Central College.
• Students must pay ICC for all tuition and fees IN FULL by the designated deadline. Tuition can be paid by using financial assistance, other scholarships, cash, check, credit card, electronic bank transfer (E-Check) or by setting up an ICC payment plan.
• The percent of tuition reimbursement you receive is determined by your calculated benefit percentage. For details on how your benefit percentage is calculated please visit www.peoriapromise. org to view our Calculated Benefit % information sheet.
• Reimbursement for out-of-pocket tuition only applies to successfully completed coursework (credit earned for grades A, B, C, or CR earn a “C” or better). All other grades, including Withdrawal (W, WD), Incomplete (I) and Pass/No Pass (P, NP) will not be counted as a successful completion and will not qualify for tuition reimbursement.
• Students must earn a minimum of six credit hours per semester to remain eligible. There is no maximum number of credit hours a student can be reimbursed for each semester, provided all criteria and expectations are met. Lifetime eligibility is limited to a maximum of 64 credit hours during the five years immediately following high school graduation, or whichever comes first.
• Funds will be paid directly to the student’s ICC account and NOT TO THE STUDENT. Any refunds due to the student for out of pocket tuition paid will be sent directly to the student by ICC. Please allow up to 6 weeks for your refund to be processed.
by SHERI MCGILL Peoria Promise
