Institution Saint Peter's University State New Jersey Academic Level Baccalaureate Issue Area Academic Program Website http://www.saintpeters.edu/celac Key Personnel Alicia D'Amato Program Focus Bilingual /ESL, First Year Support Overview The mission of the Center for English language Acquisition and Culture (CELAC) flows from the University's mission to "educate a diverse community of learners to excel intellectually, serve compassionately, lead ethically, and promote justice." The program aims to increase students' retention and academic performance of Hispanic and other low-income or minority undergraduate students. CELAC helps give students the confidence they need to reverse any stigmas the students might have about being bilingual. Additionally, they offer tutoring services for international or “Generation 1.5” graduate students. Program Description CELAC addresses the needs of their culturally and linguistically diverse students and aims to improve their college-level writing skills. All students in the program are required to take first-year writing courses at CELAC to give students a cocoon where they feel comfortable to grow during their first year. Students are then prepared for other writing classes at the university and are encouraged to continue to utilize CELAC's resources throughout the rest of their college career through tutoring and mentoring. In the summer, the program offers free college preparatory classes. In the fall, workshop contests are held where students utilize “translanguaging” to relate their identities and/or journeys to the U.S. In the spring, there is a multicultural symposium where students present research papers about oppression in different parts of the world. There are also Keynote speakers from different backgrounds that stress how bilingualism helped them in their careers. Outcome Enrollment from 2015 to 2020 was -4.0% for all students and 26.3% for Hispanic students. Retention from 2015 to 2020 was -.6% for all students and .2% for Hispanic students. The percentage change for degree completion for degree credentials between 2015 to 2020 was -3.8% for all students and 76.7% for Hispanic students. Learn more about Latino College Completion in New Jersey Return to Growing What Works Database
