Higher education has been difficult at times for Keyla Ayala, a freshman Accounting major at El Paso Community College (EPCC), but not for academic reasons. In addition to her classes and homework, she must also take care of her 3-year-old niece, Helena.
Ayala, a Northeast resident who attends EPCC’s Transmountain campus, said she sometimes can’t focus on school because of her family responsibilities. Her story is similar to that of many students at EPCC, who reported that more than 40% of her students are parents. That number increased to 50% during the spring 2020 semester.
In an effort to support these students, who are at high risk of dropping out of school, the university used some of its remaining Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) money to set up Student-Parent Resource Centers at each one of its campuses. The first launched April 28 at the university’s Transmountain campus, 9570 Gateway North.
Ayala and her niece were among the EPCC students, staff, administrators and guests who toured the converted classroom near the campus library on opening day.
The room has stations where young children can read, play games, watch TV, be entertained with videos or interactive games, or sit at tables to study or do homework. The room also has computers and related equipment where college students can do class work while supervising their dependents. A private lactation room is located next to the SPRC.
“It was hard balancing school with childcare,” said Ayala, who graduated from Parkland High School in 2022. “Sometimes I couldn’t go to school and my grades suffered. I think this (center) will have a positive impact. It will be good for people with children. I can supervise (Helena) while I do my homework.”
HEERF Lifeline Deadline
As the Covid-19 crisis evolved, the federal government passed legislation in 2020 and 2021 to boost the country’s economy. Of the nearly $5 billion spread over three phases, more than $75.3 billion in HEERF money went to business schools and colleges and their students. Of that, the Government awarded $122 million to EPCC, $154 million to the University of Texas at El Paso, and $1.4 million to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso.
Institutions spent large portions of their Covid relief funds on direct student aid, helping students pay for food, housing, childcare, utilities, and transportation, as well as academic expenses like books, supplies, tuition, and fees. related.
They also used the money to pay off student debt and provide essential mental health services. In addition, the institutions spent the money to purchase the necessary technology (laptops, hotspots, and broadband capacity) and to develop online courses for virtual learning.
“Ultimately, these funds helped students focus on their education and achieve their academic goals during this difficult time … and as we recover from the pandemic,” said Inés López, executive director of EPCC Student Financial Aid.
TTUHSCEP has used up its HEERF money, but UTEP and EPCC must spend the rest of their Covid relief money ($12 million and $7.3 million, respectively) by the June 30 federal deadline.
Fernando Flores, EPCC’s interim vice president of Financial and Administrative Operations, said the university plans to use the rest of its money to recoup revenue lost from declining enrollment and eligible institutional expenses tied to the spring 2023 semester. These include tuition for credit and non-credit courses; and varying fees for tests, labs, parking, distance learning, and library use, as well as reduced fees on food services.
Flores said university leaders will consider in the next budget cycle which HEERF projects to continue funding. Among those being considered are staffing and supplies for the university’s SPRCs/lactation rooms and Social Services Mental Health Centers at EPCC’s Northwest, Valle Verde and Mission del Paso campuses to include virtual services .
UTEP helps student with car
Mark McGurk, UTEP vice president of Business Affairs, said the best use of the university’s HEERF money was $70 million in direct student aid and various student aid programs paid for through institutional funds.
Among the approximately 9,700 UTEP students who received direct help from aid funds was Alec Corral, a sophomore Linguistics major who hopes to graduate in December. The Socorro resident, who uses the pronouns they/them/their, also works as a graduate assistant.
Corral, 24, drove to campus every day during the spring 2023 semester until his 2006 Honda Civic broke down in March. Being without a vehicle was a hardship, but they had no savings to fix the car’s transmission. They remembered how representatives from the Office of the Dean of Students had discussed the availability of Covid emergency funds, so they submitted an application along with the repair estimate from the mechanic.
They said the process was seamless and without bias. In about a week, the university deposited several hundred dollars into Corral’s bank account to repair the car.
“I’m very grateful to UTEP for offering (direct student aid),” Corral said.
McGurk also praised how the university invested $12.1 million in technology infrastructure and more than $8 million to install new heating, ventilation and air conditioning units to improve air circulation in the buildings.
One of the university’s most innovative uses of Covid relief funds was $1.2 million for an internship program run by UTEP’s Center for College Careers and Center for Community Engagement (CCE). They placed 190 undergraduate and graduate students in 77 nonprofit organizations, small businesses, state and local public entities, and educational institutions. Many of these internships, which operated virtually for the most part from January 2021 to May 2022, would often have been unpaid in the past.
“We want our students to have the opportunity to learn, so we went to companies and applied for internship positions,” McGurk said. “I think those were interesting ways to engage students in their career opportunities.”
The university also spent about $1.2 million from HEERF on mental health services during and after the pandemic. The campus used the money to hire additional counselors and purchase technology for virtual sessions and programs during the Covid shutdown.
Brian Sneed, director of UTEP Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), said students sought his team’s help in dealing with anxieties such as remote learning, isolation during lockdown, as well as the deadly virus and apparent incapacity. the government to run it.
When students returned to campus, CAPS used HEERF money to hire two temporary licensed professional counselors to help with the “tremendous” demand for mental health services based on the number and severity of sessions. One of those counselors became a permanent employee. The other left and was replaced by a psychology post-doctoral intern who will work with CAPS until the end of June 2023.
Sneed said CAPS serves about 1,500 students a year. Although the number of patients has remained the same, the number of sessions has increased by about 100 per month.
He said that many students now prefer virtual sessions even if they are on campus. Mental health providers had already begun to lean toward virtual sessions, and the pandemic accelerated the momentum in that direction. Sneed called virtual sessions the new normal at UTEP.
“That kind of interaction is going to be a part of what we do here at the university from now on,” Sneed said.
As a result, the university plans to purchase five multi-use “privacy pods” with about $147,000 of its remaining HEERF money. These pods, four large ADA accessible units and one slightly smaller pod, will be located around campus to provide students with a quiet, private place to meet with professors, counselors, or take an exam.
McGurk said UTEP will use any unspent HEERF money for direct student aid and include payments on student balances owed to the university during the pandemic.
“I think (HEERF) has been a great help to UTEP,” McGurk said. “If we hadn’t been able to receive HEERF money, it would have been devastating to our campus, absolutely devastating.”
