A Dedicated Space For First-gen SCTCC Students Is On The Way

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud Technical and Community College is breaking ground on a brand new facility designed to help its first-generation students. The Wedum Center for Student Success will take over the entire second floor of the library building.

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Below is a photo of the Heartland Building, which currently houses the SCTCC library on the first floor and will soon be the home to the Wedum Center for Student Success on the second floor.

Vice President of Advancement Daniel Larson says the school is creating a physical space, providing programming, and hiring three staff members to help the students.

Over 60 percent of the students at SCTCC are first generation, meaning their parents did not go to college, and they need extra support, and accountability, and teamwork to be successful in higher education.

Larson says they have individual pieces across the campus, but now it will all be combined in one space. The goal is to increase student retention from the first year to the second year.

No matter if it's here in St. Cloud, in Minnesota, or across the nation, we have about a 50 percent success rate, meaning that over half of the 2,800 students coming into SCTCC who are first-year students this fall might not come back next fall.

Larson says similar models at other colleges have successfully increased the retention rate by 15 to 20 percent.

The J.A. Wedum Foundation had a matching challenge of $2 million, which helped SCTCC meet and surpass its campaign goal by raising $2.2 million. Board Chair Brian Myres says

If we can move that by 20 percent, the positive impact on the college is huge, the impact on those students is huge, and for employers, because if 20 people are enrolled in the welding program, but only 10 of them make it, that's 10 fewer workers in the workforce.

Traditionally two two-year colleges have not been set up to have the support to help first-generation students like they do at four-year universities and private colleges. Besides the matching grant from the J.A. Wedum Foundation, SCTCC also received $1.1 million in state bonding money from the state legislature.

Myres says he's hoping this will become a model for other colleges.

This just seems like something that, if it works here, it can work across the state, and maybe one of those projects that changes the dynamic of higher education in the state of Minnesota.

The St. Cloud Technical and Community College bought the building from CentraCare about 12 years ago, but the 10,000 square feet of space has been empty until now. They are hoping to have the Wedum Center for Student Success open by August of next year.