Accepted Proposals

08. What if there was a coordinated effort to equitably support all access and success programs on campus, as well as unaffiliated first-gen and/or Pell-eligible students?

May 16, 2025

The collaboration led by: Aaron Ray

With collaborators: Travis Hill; further collaborators to be recruited from Academic Affairs, Dean of Students, Enrollment Management, Advancement, Career Center, and students from eligible populations.

The proposed initiative seeks to transform Hamilton College into a leader in supporting access and success programs while bridging gaps for first-generation and Pell-eligible students who are unaffiliated with existing support systems. Currently, Hamilton’s approach to access programs is fragmented, leading to varying levels of support and misses the opportunity to support all eligible students comprehensively and equitably. By implementing a coordinated framework that integrates existing programs—Posse, Opportunity Programs (OP), and Questbridge—with tailored services for unaffiliated first-gen and/or Pell-eligible students, we can ensure every student receives equitable resources to thrive academically and personally.

The proposal was submitted for TRANSFORMATIONAL funding (no maximum) and was ranked high with respect to the other proposals based upon the evaluation rubric.

The committee applauds the proposers for:

• Providing a well articulated vision 
• Utilizing  a community building approach
• Recognizing that first-gen students lack support
• Identifying inconsistent support between Opportunity Programs, QuestBridge, Posse, First Gen  

The points that the committee recommends the proposers need to continue to develop include:

• Reevaluating the budget as next steps are considered 

From the committee’s perspective, the next phase of this project would include:

• Collecting data and evaluating models at other institutions.
• The need and unevenness that has been identified is important to address. The recommended funding should be used to develop a more innovative prototype and specific program of support for all of these student populations.  

The committee recommends funding the next phase of this proposal for $20,000 to move this idea forward for further aspirational design and development.