Braque Talley, vice chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Success at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, has a passion for student success and retention.
The university was recently awarded financial support from the Association of Public Land-grant Universities.
The grant will be used to support participation in the largest-ever institutional collaborative effort to collect and share data geared at finding solutions for college access. It will also help generate more graduates from underrepresented minority, low-income and first-generation backgrounds, according to a news release.
"Getting students enrolled in college is no longer enough," said Talley. "We don't just want students to attend UAPB. We want them to graduate from here as well. The success of our students is a priority for our chancellor."
In March, UAPB was among 15 institutions invited to participate in a nationwide collaboration initiative, called Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success, that received a $15,000 stipend from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The institutions could use the funds to help cover expenses related to the research and project participation.
Talley is using the money to help review best practices that help with student successes and share the successful initiatives that impact institutional equity. As a participant, Talley will share his data with other public universities working together to increase college access, eliminate the achievement gap and award hundreds of thousands more degrees by 2025, according to the release.
"By collecting, reporting, and analyzing the data from students of all backgrounds across the country, it will help to foster more informed decisions about how to improve opportunities and support the current gaps in student success," Talley said.
Talley's dedication to the student's individual success is evident, according to George Cotton, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement and Development at UAPB.
"Since day one, he has been driven to finding solutions to help students succeed, generate retention for the university, and help young people find their place in the world," Cotton said.
Even amid history's worst pandemic, Talley was relentless in finding ways to stay engaged with local youths and help students find success. He and his team are credited for helping UAPB reach the largest enrollment increase in nearly a decade and increases the retention rate to one of the highest in the university's history, according to reports.
"We are proud of our participation in this new initiative focused on data-driven research to determine solutions for student outcomes," said Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander. "UAPB is committed to being more student-focused and more responsive to change with the goal of increasing student success and the removal of impediments to student retention, progression, and timely graduation."
Other institutions selected for the nationwide initiative are Clemson University; Illinois State University; Ohio University; Middle Tennessee State University; Montana State University; New Mexico State University; University of New Orleans; New Jersey Institute of Technology; Rutgers University-Newark; University of South Alabama; Texas Tech University; Tuskegee University; Virginia Commonwealth University; Western Michigan University; University of Wyoming.