E3C 2025 Innovation Grant Awardees Announced

From its 2022 inception, the Educational Equity and Excellence Collaborative (E3C) was designed to increase educational opportunity through targeted support, and became the first Rutgers-wide initiative dedicated to improving access and success for first-generation students.

Though the concept of first-generation students traditionally means those whose parents have not earned a four-year degree, the E3C serves a more expansive audience to include students from modest-income households and others who may benefit from additional resources. Such students face a pronounced opportunity gap in college access and persistence; however, the E3C has created a community hub of knowledge and support to address that gap in preparation: Scarlet First. This new website offers curated resources alongside new and longstanding supports to help navigate the college journey.

Recognizing that this journey is by nature a holistic endeavor, the E3C created its Innovation Grant funding opportunity to engage faculty and staff across Rutgers. This program, offered annually, provides awards of up to $25,000 to pilot or expand strategies that enhance college access and success for first-generation students and those from modest-income households. 

With its most recent cycle just ended, assistant vice president, Aramis Gutierrez, is excited to announce the latest slate of awarded projects for work in the key areas of preparation, meeting basic needs, and academic engagement/support. Gutierrez points out, “What’s exciting about the selected proposals is that, taken together, they address the lifecycle of student support, thoughtfully engaging students before they get here, while they are with us, and even beyond their time at Rutgers.”

Housed in University Academic Affairs, the E3C funds innovative concepts initiated by teams from all four chancellor-led units (CLUs), and applications are reviewed in consultation with CLU leadership. Since 2023, the Innovation Grants have funded 13 projects, with the potential to reach more than 5,000+ students collectively. This latest cycle brings the total number of awards to 20.

Preparation
A major obstacle to academic success for first-generation students is lack of preparation for and information about college and career pathways. Recognizing the significance of this barrier, Sheronia Rogers, EdD of the Center for Pre-College Programs, Rutgers–Newark, will lead a multi-faceted College and Career Institute to introduce a cohort of first-generation high school juniors and students to potential career paths, leveraging dual enrollment to foster academic preparation and student achievement. 

Similarly, the WISER project—led by A. Reema Kar, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, along with New Jersey Medical School colleagues Amy Gore, DO, and Fariha Sheikh, MD—will encourage promising first-gen students to dream big by preparing them for potential careers as surgeons. Through this structured mentorship and enrichment program, faculty from RWJMS and NJMS, both units of Rutgers Health, will introduce various surgical specialties to Rutgers pre-med juniors and seniors; participants will also learn strategies for success on exams, applications, and interviews, making surgery an accessible career choice for those who might otherwise consider it out of reach. 

Meeting Basic Needs
For students to thrive on campus, it is essential that basic needs are met. Understanding the primacy of this factor is at the heart of two new projects, ones that build in elements of faculty or peer engagement. In Newark, Erica D. Williams, MA, is expanding on current successful programming to include training designed for faculty with her pantry+ Student and Faculty Ambassadors initiative, providing stipends to both student and faculty ambassadors. Multi-modal coursework tailored to each group will help students and faculty identify signs of basic needs insecurity and connect vulnerable students to available resources.

Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, Cara Cuite, PhD, Amber Schreck, MEd, and team will launch the Basic Needs Ambassador Internship Program, which models itself after successful Newark initiatives, but includes the novel component of engaging students in a credit-bearing internship/experiential learning program. This preparation will empower them to conduct thoughtful outreach among their peers, increasing awareness and utilization of on-campus basic needs resources while reducing stigma.

Academic Engagement and Support
With Next Generation Student Success, Robyn Brady Ince, EdM, and Jennifer M. Bucalo, PhD, will lead a Newark study, in collaboration with other New Jersey public colleges and universities, to examine the experiences of first-generation students more closely. Through better understanding of first-gen student needs and challenges–and what supports make the difference in persistence and graduation—the team aims to improve existing strategies and develop new ones. 

In Camden, Randi Mayers, EdD, and Jason James Jr., EdD, will collaborate with the Office of the Provost to pilot an onboarding program for faculty focused on student success practices. Teaching and Learning Practice for First-Gen Success will engage 12 faculty members in its first fellows cohort, providing high-quality, practical resources and experiences to encourage faculty adoption of evidence-based practices to better support the first-gen population, capitalizing on the significant influence that curricular engagement has on student retention and success.

Christina Chisholm, PhD, and a robust team in New Brunswick will execute their Building Bridges initiative as a way of addressing student need for those who may not meet eligibility requirements for other programs, providing a community to guide such students in navigating the academic environment and accessing institutional supports. 

Anticipation is high at E3C as this year’s group of awardees starts its work, adding its innovations to the steadily growing pool of best practices. Gutierrez describes it as an iterative process, one of “investing in and learning from [student] experiences to further advance first-gen success.” 
 

Camden

Project: Teaching and Learning Practice for First-Gen Success

• Leads
  • Randi Mayers, EdD, executive director, Student Academic Success
  • Jason James Jr., EdD, director of operations, Student Academic Success
• Partner
  • Office of the Provost

Newark 

Project: Next Generation Student Success: Understanding and Accounting for the Needs of First-generation College Students

• Leads
  • Robyn Ince, EdM, executive director, Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC) and assistant professor of professional practice, Department of Urban Education, School of Arts and Sciences
  • Jennifer Bucalo, PhD, executive director of strategic initiatives
• Partners
  • Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC)
  • Office of the Provost

Project: College and Career Institute 

• Lead
  • Sheronia Rogers, EdD, director/associate dean, Center for Pre-College Programs 
• Partners
  • Center for Pre-College Programs
  • Newark Public Schools

Project: pantry+ Student and Faculty Ambassadors

• Lead
  • Erica D. Williams, MA, assistant vice chancellor, student affairs and dean of students 
• Partner
  • Health & Wellness, Student Affairs

New Brunswick

Project: Basic Needs Ambassador Internship Program: Experiential Learning Designed to Engage the RUNB Community in Promoting Resources, Reducing Stigma, and Improving Student Well-Being

• Leads
  • Cara Cuite, PhD, associate extension specialist/associate professor and undergraduate program director, Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences 
  • Amber Schreck, MEd, assistant director, Basic Needs Center
• Partners
  • Phillip Smith, EdD, assistant dean for Student Basic Needs
  • Stephanie A. Brescia, PhD, assistant professor of practice and program coordinator, educational psychology, Graduate School of Education

Project: Building Bridges: Addressing and Overcoming Academic Achievement Gaps

• Lead
  • Christina Chisholm, PhD, director, McNair Scholars Program and Thrive Student Support Services
• Partners
  • Educational Equity Group
  • Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE)
  • Office of Student Orientation and Transition Programs
  • Office of Transfer and Non-Traditional Students
  • RU1st
  • Paul Robeson Success Institute
  • RU-NB EOF 
  • Rutgers Enrollment Management

Rutgers Health

Project: Women in Surgery Experience at Rutgers (WISER), Introduction to Surgical Careers (WISC) program

• Lead
  • A. Reema Kar, MD, assistant professor, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School  
• Partners
  • Amy V. Gore, DO, assistant clinical professor, New Jersey Medical School   
  • Fariha Sheikh, MD, assistant clinical professor, New Jersey Medical School