FINANCE & OPERATIONS

What If We Just Paid Students to Attend College?

In an innovative move by California, some community college students are now being paid to attend classes and study, thanks to a $30 million pilot program named Hire UP.

Inspired by the state’s guaranteed income programs, this initiative is designed to support students grappling with the high cost of living, particularly benefiting those formerly incarcerated, current or former foster youth, and CalWORKs recipients.

💸 The program’s impact is already visible at Santa Rosa Junior College, where students like Leah Richardson receive nearly $2,000 monthly based on a 30-hour academic week. She says, “Now that I have this money, I don’t have the weight of having to go back to a job that’s going to drain me.”

Students like Leah in the program are getting much-needed help that allows them to focus more on their education and not on finding a job. The program pays based on the state’s minimum wage for the hours dedicated to schooling, reflecting a significant shift towards valuing student time and commitment.

• $30 million was allocated to assist students struggling with living costs.
• Focus on vulnerable student groups, including formerly incarcerated individuals.
• Payments are based on hourly engagement with education.

🦁 Leadership Lessons »

The achilleas heal to most innovative solutions like this isn’t whether they initially work or not. It’s whether they overcome innovation bias to succeed big and in a hurry.

Case in point: the Hire UP program just launched and is already facing hurdles due to budgetary constraints. So, while initial outcomes are promising, they may not be BIG enough to justify the cost. As such, the program may not get the runway needed to truly see what it can do.

This is a pity, but it provides an opportunity to learn how we might account for innovation bias in our projects and plans.

Overcoming Innovation Bias

1. Know that early success is critical: Build early wins into your execution plan and then communicate their importance and relevance.
   
   Many leaders assume others will naturally see and value a project’s momentum. This is not true. It’s your job to position momentum as BIG wins to better control the narrative, especially early on when the project is most vulnerable.
2. Don’t bet on continued support: Winds change, and so do support and allocated budgets. Keep this in mind as you develop your project and execute your plan. It is better to be prepared to adapt than rigidly locked into a single pathway.
3. Communicate the full story: The more innovative and out-of-the-box the plan, the more important it is to communicate the full story. This means communicating both the upside benefits and the downside risks of doing nothing.
   
   🤔 For example, one thing we didn’t see when researching Hire 2U was a cost-benefit analysis of doing nothing. It’s easy to see the enormous cost of the program, but what about the cost of a student not graduating? What about the cost of a student remaining on public assistance? What about recidivism? What about generational poverty?
   
   🛫 By communicating the full story, leaders can extend the runway and buy their projects and plans more time and support. This extension can mean the difference between a success becoming a permanent fix and a flash in the pan being shut down before it has a chance to shine.

🎯 Cabinet Conversation »

1. How can we better communicate the early milestones and wins four our projects?
2. How can we better adapt to varying levels of support and resources for our projects?
3. How can we better communicate the full story of the upside benefits and downside costs of doing nothing?

STUDENT SUCCESS

Empowering Women Through Education

Tallahassee Community College’s Sister to Sister (S2S) initiative embodies the transformative power of creating safe, supportive educational spaces for women. This program, along with similar initiatives like Women of Wisdom (WOW) at Prince George’s Community College, underscores the vital role of holistic support systems in fostering female students’ growth, both personally and academically. 

👩🏽‍💼 👩🏾‍🎓 By offering mentorship, career guidance, and personal development opportunities, these programs have made significant impacts, such as WOW’s impressive engagement of over 700 students and CCAC’s Women on a Mission, contributing to a 78% retention rate. These successes highlight the importance of tailored support, affirming the power of community and connectivity in enhancing educational outcomes and empowering women to excel beyond academia.

Tallahassee Community College’s Sister to Sister (S2S)

• Offers holistic support and resources, aiding participants in overcoming financial and personal challenges.
• Encourages personal and academic growth through leadership skill development and community networking opportunities.
• Provides a “village” of support, creating a nurturing environment for women with external obligations and aspirations.
• Facilitates transformative experiences, requiring openness to change and personal development.
• Delivers targeted assistance through monthly check-ins, ensuring tailored support to meet individual and collective needs.

🦁 Leadership Lessons »

Initiatives like those supporting female students are effective beyond the tangible resources they offer; their success hinges on their ability to foster emotional resonance and a profound sense of community. 

Initiatives must touch the core of human experience, aligning with our intrinsic need for belonging and understanding. By prioritizing the cultivation of these emotional and social bonds, programs can transform from being somewhat beneficial to becoming deeply impactful by ensuring participants fully embrace and engage with the opportunities provided.

This is the distinction from being a source of INFORMATION to becoming one for INSPIRATION.

🎯 Cabinet Conversation »

• How can we further tailor our support programs to meet the unique emotional needs of our students?
• How can we expand our network of mentors and resources to enhance the impact of our student support initiatives?
• What strategies can we implement to ensure the sustainability and growth of our community support programs?