President's corner

May 16, 2023 (Volume 46, Number 17)

portrait of President Mantella in a black jacket, white shirt, seated on chair

President Philomena V. Mantella said K-12 Connect is a successful program that helped Grand Valley adopt a call to action to engage more college students in tutoring elementary and high school students.

Photo Credit: Amanda Pitts

Grand Valley was one of 26 institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for answering the call to engage more college students in the academic support of K-12 students.

The May 10 announcement touted the National Partnership for Student Success, a partnership that was launched in 2022 after President Biden called for an additional 250,000 adults to serve in academic support roles to help K-12 students with learning challenges exacerbated by the pandemic.

President Philomena V. Mantella said she was pleased that Grand Valley's K-12 Connect tutoring program was already successful and able to position the university for this national initiative.

“We recognized early in the pandemic that our students could provide high-quality academic support to elementary and secondary students who were struggling," Mantella said. "We look forward to engaging more GVSU students to work in and learn from these crucial tutoring positions.”

K-12 Connect has helped more than 3,000 K-12 students with tutoring and mentoring services, and hired more than 1,000 college students, 95 percent of whom are GVSU students.