Clinton School student Harvell Howard is working with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) to establish an African American Male Initiative (AAMI) to help African American male students at the university stay in school and graduate.
Howard is completing the project as part of the Clinton School’s Capstone program, one of three, for-credit public service projects required in the school’s Master of Public Service degree program.
Guided by the leadership of Dr. Charles W. Donaldson, vice vhancellor for the Division of Educational and Student Services at UALR, AAMI is a student success program that empowers, supports and assists African American male students.
The initiative consists of a mentorship program (both peer and professional) along with student development programs.
As a part of this project, Howard planned and organized the first annual African American Male Initiative Consortium Conference at UALR on Feb. 25-26, 2010.
This consortium assembled over 18 institutions of higher education and community organizations throughout Arkansas to address critical issues affecting African American male students and to review research findings and best practices.
This conference provides a venue to celebrate accomplishments from the past year, give model program awards, and offer current best practices for retaining and graduating African American male college students.
UALR’s AAMI program is based on an intrusive intervention model with a mantra of “failure is not an option,” Donaldson said.
“Harvell Howard has been an integral part of the staff in the Educational and Student Services Division,” Donaldson said. “His efforts on this project have already demonstrated the value of intrusive intervention with our African American male population.”
As the graduate coordinator for the AAMI program, Howard is managing its development.
He will present a final report to UALR that will include detailed information about other successful African American male student initiatives from around the country, resources that could be useful in further developing UALR’s initiative, and potential funding sources.
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