(HUNTSVILLE) - The Texas State University System (TSUS) and Harmony Public Schools (HPS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish and expand collaborative efforts aimed at supporting HPS graduates as they apply to, advance in, and graduate from a TSUS member institution.
TSUS Chancellor Brian McCall and HPS Deputy Superintendent Umit Alpaslan, joined by the presidents of TSUS’s seven member institutions, signed the agreement May 20 on Sam Houston State University’s Huntsville campus. The agreement allows TSUS institutions to inform HPS students about the benefits of pursuing higher education, and to work closely with HPS to support students who choose to attend a TSUS institution.
“Our member institutions are proud to provide a welcoming environment where first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students feel at home and, importantly, succeed in ever-increasing numbers,” said Chancellor McCall. “We look forward to working with Harmony Public Schools to help more students realize their dream of earning a college degree.”
"At Harmony Public Schools, our primary mission is to provide students from across Texas a path to a better future by equipping them with the academic knowledge and life skills they'll need to succeed. We are extremely proud to partner with an organization such as the Texas State University System which shares those values and can support our graduates with an affordable, high-quality college education," said Alpaslan.
Under the agreement, finance, admissions and student services personnel from participating TSUS institutions would collaborate with HPS and provide office and meeting space for a HPS College Success Coach to support HPS graduates throughout their college careers. HPS would assist participating institutions with identifying, informing and recruiting HPS students who are considering college, as permitted by state and federal student privacy laws.
The agreement is designed to increase HPS graduates’ attendance, retention and college graduation rates by developing strategies to address the challenges of HPS students, many of whom are first-generation college students from low-income families.
The Texas State University System, founded in 1911, is Texas’ first university system. TSUS member institutions currently serve more than 87,000 students on 13 campuses from far West Texas to the Gulf Coast. Member institutions include Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University, Texas State University, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College Orange, and Lamar State College Port Arthur.
Harmony Public Schools is a system of 58 Texas public charter schools that provides rigorous, high-quality education focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Harmony provides students from traditionally underserved communities the opportunity to excel through project-based learning where they learn the skills necessary to become contributing global citizens.
