AANAPISI Parts A & F Grants

Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI)

Our Mission

The mission of the AANAPISI programs are to improve the transition, progression, graduation, and transfer rates of Asian American and Pacific Islander students at Mission College.

Program Scope

In 2010, Mission College was designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and was awarded a $2 million AANAPISI Part A Grant that targets students in the English-as-a-Second-Language course sequence to transition successfully to College English. The Part A grant period is for five years beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015. This task will be accomplished through a variety of comprehensive services such as one-on-one counseling, student success workshops, personal development workshops, financial literacy workshops, career assessments and more. To address deficiencies in academic services impacting student success, Supplemental Instruction pilot programs in basic skills courses will also be developed and will include cultural links to AAPI issues.

In 2011, Mission College was awarded a $2 million AANAPISI Part F Grant that targets student performance improvement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses that have represented barriers for our students in the past. The Part F grant period is also for five years beginning in 2011 and ending in 2016. Comprehensive services such as one-on-one counseling and workshops will be provided with a focus on transfer into STEM majors. In addition, AANAPISI Part F is helping to fund the construction of a new STEM Learning Center on campus, the creation of learning communities and supplemental instruction for STEM courses, as well as offering online mentoring and tutoring programs. The new online tutoring program will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

With the AANAPISI Part A and F grants combined, Mission College will implement a six-year, $4 million project consisting of a comprehensive set of best practices strategies to overcome the documented obstacles to success of AAPI students. The intended outcomes of the AANAPISI grants will strengthen the pipeline at Mission College to assist AAPI students from matriculation to degree attainment and transfer to four-year colleges/universities with a particular emphasis on transfer into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) majors. While the grant focuses on developing strategies that are culturally relevant to Asian American and Pacific Islander students, these resources are available to ALL students and will promote the success and retention of ALL Mission College students.

Mission College is now recognized as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) by the U.S. Department of Education and joins the ranks of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. Mission College also carries the high distinction of being the only postsecondary institution in the nation to receive the AANAPISI Part A and F grants simultaneously.

Overview of AANAPISI Grant Strategies

To revise the credit ESL curriculum and to allow more advanced AAPI students to progress more rapidly through the course sequence into college programs.
To increase the numbers of AAPI students transitioning from the highest levels of ESL courses into college programs, and strengthen programs and services to support transitions.
To increase students reaching critical academic progress and momentum points, including those entering the college via the ESL program and at development levels in English and mathematics.
To work more closely to implement the K-16 Bridge program, with an emphasis on linkages to feeder high schools with the highest AAPI enrollments.
To develop stronger relationships with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including development of an active AAPI Community Advisory Committee.
To strengthen capacity to disaggregate data for analysis, especially for subgroups of AAPI student populations, including closing critical gaps in connectivity of information systems.
To increase AAPI student transfers to four-year colleges and universities, especially in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
To increase the success and sequential continuation rates for all levels of mathematics.
To focus on improving success rates in a core of 22 non-math transfer courses which have been identified as high risk due to below average success rates.
To centralize and strengthen academic assistance and student support services for all students preparing to transfer in STEM field, including creation of a Science Learning Center.
To implement a college-wide faculty development initiative for exploration of innovative methods to improve both faculty and student engagement in teaching and learning.
To assist faculty to integrate research-based best practices into courses, with an emphasis on high risk transfer courses.
To use the outcomes data and evaluation assessments from this AANAPISI project to inform planning, needed improvements and decision-making across the College.

Measureable Outcomes

Increase in successful AAPI student transitions from ESL to College Programs;
Increased numbers and percentages of AAPI students reaching transfer directed and transfer prepared status;
Increased success rates in targeted math courses;
Increased AAPI success rates in identified non-math high risk barrier courses;
Increased numbers of overall AAPI students transferring to four-year colleges/universities, especially in STEM majors;
Increased numbers of AAPI students earning Associate's degrees.