Tag Archive for: State University System of Florida

Full Circle: A University of Florida Journey

December 16, 2024/in News, University of Florida

One of the first MFOS graduates looks back on the program’s generational impact, celebrates her daughter’s own University of Florida journey

This article was written by our grantee partner, the University of Florida, about a Machen Florida Opportunity Scholarship (MFOS) recipient. JSF helps support this nationally recognized program through a matching grant. The article is shared here with permission.

Khrysten Sears Spencer (B.A. ’09) wore an orange University of Florida (UF) alumni T-shirt and a blue Gator logo belt as she walked up the large white staircase in the Reitz Union. Her eyes widened as she took out her phone, paused and used it to scan the interior.

“It’s changed so much,” she said as she followed the crowd toward the freshman orientation.

Sears Spencer’s daughter, Allannah Dean, a member of the class of 2028, stuck to her side as they found seats in the first row in the ballroom for the beginning of Preview. They opened their pamphlets and chatted with another Gator family seated behind them before the speaker began.

This first-year orientation experience isn’t new to them.

Eighteen years earlier, Sears Spencer traveled with Allannah, who was under a year old, from their home in Belle Glade—a rural town lined with sugar cane and spotted with football fields about 255 miles south of Gainesville—to begin her own freshman year. It was a life-changing feat she may not have managed without being accepted into the inaugural 2006 class of Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars (MFOS), UF’s nationally known and recognized program for low-income, first-generation college students.

College Dreams Come to Life

Sears Spencer found out that she would be the valedictorian of Glades Central Community High School the day after she gave birth to Allannah. Both of her parents attended college but neither graduated. Her father was a carpenter and her mother worked as a child-care provider.

Despite her stellar academic achievements, doubt crept in. Some people told her she should shelve her dreams because of the responsibilities of motherhood. But she refused to give up.

“Just proving them wrong. It could be done. It would be difficult, but not impossible,” she said.

Sears Spencer’s mother was initially worried for her daughter. She had been a teen mom herself and intimately understood those complexities and hardships. But she quickly turned her concern to support, telling Sears Spencer to hunt for scholarships that would ease her financial burden. By then, she had already secured a Bright Futures scholarship to cover 75% of her tuition. They both hoped a full ride opportunity would present itself.

That’s where the newly created Machen Florida Opportunity Scholarship came in.

Leslie Pendleton, founding director of MFOS and now executive director of University Initiatives for UF Advancement, said former UF president Bernie Machen drove the program’s creation. He had assembled a similar program for first-generation students during his prior role as president at the University of Utah and dreamed of doing something larger and more impactful at UF.

“There is a hole in our financial-aid system,” Machen said when the program was announced in 2006.

He went on to describe how the University of Florida was losing out on hundreds of students every year who might qualify for Bright Futures scholarships but otherwise didn’t have the money to pay for room, board and assorted living costs. The year before MFOS began, there were more than 400 applicants from families making less than $40,000 who were ultimately admitted to UF but decided not to enroll. The MFOS program was designed to close that gap and ensure those students—students like Sears Spencer—could not only afford to enroll in UF, they could pursue their studies debt-free.

Khrysten Sears Spencer (left) with her daughter, Allannah, at the University of Florida. Photo by Jennifer Romero (B.S. ’19).

Pendleton helped build the early stages of MFOS. Not only did the university invest in scholarship support from the beginning, but it also provided numerous resources like peer mentors, financial literacy education and community building activities to make these students feel at home on UF’s campus.

“It wasn’t just, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you a scholarship, figure it out.’ It was, ‘We’re going to give you the support to succeed and thrive here,’” Pendleton said.

The vision was to build an inclusive community of scholars who would be the first in their families to graduate from college and who would go on to share their success across their communities, she said. Access was the key. President Machen wanted to make sure the University of Florida was within reach for all high-achieving students, not just those who could afford it.

Sears Spencer’s inaugural MFOS class had more than 400 students. Pendleton said it was important to start big so the incoming scholars felt like they were part of a community and were able to navigate their early college lives together.

The program has now grown into a national standout. MFOS students graduate at the same rate as their peers, they are successful in the workplace, and they give back to the university faster than anyone else, Machen said in a recent interview.

“When you really go inside these kids’ lives and look at what they’ve been through to get here, you can’t believe it,” Machen said. “What I came to realize is that we don’t make them special. We find them, and they are special. We just give them a little nurturing and a little help, and then they do the rest on their own.”

A Life-changing Gator Experience

Sears Spencer and her mother drove to Gainesville a week or two before officially moving to find a daycare that was reasonably priced and close to campus. She didn’t have a car her first year, so the woman who ran the daycare would pick up Allannah in the mornings.

Khrysten Sears Spencer holds a photo of herself with her daughter, Allannah, taken years ago. Photo by Jennifer Romero (B.S. ’19).

She was also able to form a small community on campus. Her and another student who had two children would schedule playdates with Allannah, and a friend who Sears Spencer knew from high school offered to help whenever she could.

“I didn’t really have the traditional college experience because I was known as the girl who took her kid to college with her,” she said. “I had to take care of her. I had to get through it. That was sort of my mindset. I don’t have the luxury of playing around. I have someone to raise.”

During her time at UF, she did her best to experience campus life, going to sporting events and even having dinner at the president’s house where she met her scholarship’s namesake, President Machen. Sears Spencer graduated from UF in 2009 within three years, all while raising Allannah.

If not for MFOS and the University of Florida, Sears Spencer said she might never have found her current career path. She started as a psychology major but transitioned to a communications science and disorders degree. She now works as a speech-language pathologist in the Palm Beach County school district, where she diagnoses and treats kids who have speech and language disorders. She didn’t initially plan to go back to her hometown of Belle Glade, but she is happy to give back to her community.

“I do feel like being able to go off to UF, have everything paid for, that I was able to get into a career that I had never heard of before,” she said. “I am extremely grateful for it. I do not know where I would be without it because it really changed my whole path in life.”

I do feel like being able to go off to UF, have everything paid for, that I was able to get into a career that I had never heard of before. I am extremely grateful for it [MFOS]. I do not know where I would be without it because it really changed my whole path in life. —Khrysten Sears Spencer

Through Her Daughter’s Eyes

Allannah Dean also went to Glades Central Community High School, where she graduated No. 3 in her class and received a full Bright Futures scholarship.

When she graduated, she gave a farewell speech to her class. As Sears Spencer sat in the stands listening to her daughter, she thought about how just 18 years earlier, she delivered a similar speech to the same high school with an infant Allannah in the stands.

Allannah’s final college decision came down to the University of Miami and UF, but she found herself drawn to her mother’s alma mater. She visited Gainesville in the summer of 2023 for the UF Student Science Training Program, and she said she liked the college-town feel.

“I was raised to be a Gator,” she said. “It was a no-brainer.”

Allannah plans to pursue an engineering degree—for now she has her sights set on nuclear engineering. She started UF in Summer 2024 in STEPUP (the Successful Transition and Enhanced Preparation for Undergraduates program) within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. The program offers an accelerated transition into university life and connects students to a community of mentors, faculty and industry leaders.

Allannah’s University of Florida bucket list consists of studying abroad, cheering at Gator football games and sunbathing at Lake Wauburg.

Sears Spencer said Allannah is quiet but more independent than she was at her age. She filled out every college application and financial aid paperwork on her own, and she was proactive at finding organizations to join at UF. But she still makes time to call her mom every day.

“This is where it all began for us,” she said. “I tell her all the time, ‘Enjoy your college experience. You’ll make lifelong friends, enjoy it. Don’t get too crazy, definitely, but enjoy it and also take advantage of the opportunities.’”

Sears Spencer knows firsthand the power of those opportunities. As she reminisced about her own time at UF, she said she’s grateful for how the MFOS program positively shaped her and Allannah’s lives and appreciates how special it is to bring the story full circle through her daughter’s own UF experience.

A Recipe for Success, Part 2

October 13, 2017/in Bea Awoniyi, King Jordan, Malcolm Macleod, News, Tori Lackey

In honor of National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month, we bring you the second in a two-part series on the Johnson Scholarship Program. Now in its 26^th year, the program provides scholarships for students with disabilities and a network of support services to enhance student success.

Research shows that there is a great gap between educational expectations and reality for students with disabilities.

A 2006 National Longitudinal Transition Study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs and Institute of Education Sciences showed that 85 percent of youth with disabilities plan to complete some form of post-secondary education (26 percent expected to complete a post-secondary vocational, technical or trade school; 34 percent expected to graduate from a two-year college; 25 percent expected to graduate from a four-year college). However, the same study also indicates that only one in 10 of these students actually complete any sort of post-secondary education (5 percent graduated from a post-secondary vocational, technical or trade school; 4 percent graduated from a two-year college; 1 percent graduated from a four-year college).

The Johnson Scholarship Program helps to narrow the gap between expectation and attainment. Data kept by Florida Atlantic University finds that 66.1 percent of the students receiving at least one scholarship disbursement have graduated and another 20 percent are still enrolled in post-secondary education. The role of the Disability Support Services (DSS) office in helping students through this process cannot be overstated.

The good work of the DSS in delivering the scholarship program to students is enabled by its partnership with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation and the Florida Board of Governors’ office. The scholarship program depends upon a unique collaboration among the philanthropic, higher education and legislative sectors.

The Board of Governors Office performs essential leadership functions. It serves as a liaison between the Foundation and the universities, disseminates information on best practices, and helps to standardize processes. It manages and distributes the scholarship money to the various SUSF schools and it also provides expertise on legislative and policy changes that might affect students with disabilities.

The Board of Governors scales the support of students with disabilities to a state level, providing a greater platform for advocacy and building allies across sector lines in Florida. Such allies are invaluable as students with disabilities graduate from college and pursue employment.

At the heart of the partnership among JSF, the Board of Governor’s Office and the campus DSS is a one-day annual meeting, convened by JSF. The purpose of this meeting is to review the performance of the scholarship program, discuss developments affecting students with disabilities and best practices and opportunities for learning and collaboration. Professionals from outside the SUSF are sometimes invited to attend the annual meeting and speak on issues relevant to students with disabilities and their educators.

The underlying reason for JSF’s mission in education is to facilitate meaningful employment. Unfortunately, there is huge underemployment of people with disabilities, even those with university degrees. According to the Current Population Survey (CPS) data released in June 2017, the unemployment rates for people with disabilities is more than double the rate for people without disabilities. The under employment of students with disabilities has been a recurring topic of discussion at JSF Scholarship annual meetings.

The Johnson Scholarship Program for students with disabilities is based upon a unique working relationship among JSF, the State of Florida, the SUSF and the university campuses, particularly the DSS at each campus. It is this partnership that has made the scholarship program successful. We have repeatedly noted that the real value of the program is in the work of the people involved (rather than the money).

The program builds on infrastructure, expertise and resources that are already in place in the state of Florida. The Board of Governors is the governing body for its 12 state universities and DSS are well established at each campus. The delivery of the Scholarship Program causes additional work for these partners but the incremental cost is small compared to the benefits.

The JSF SUSF Scholarship Program is a proven winner that is easily replicable in other states. The administrative machinery, DSS and a philanthropic sector are already in place. All that is required is an individual or group of individuals to champion the program.

For more information about Johnson Scholarship Foundation, visit www.jsf.bz.

A Recipe for Success

October 6, 2017/in Bea Awoniyi, King Jordan, Malcolm Macleod, News, Tori Lackey

In honor of National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month, we bring you the first in a two-part series on the Johnson Scholarship Program. Now in its 26^th year, the program provides scholarships for students with disabilities and a network of support services to enhance student success.

What if scholarships weren’t really about the money?

As a private philanthropic foundation, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation invests to obtain the highest possible rate of return. The return on its scholarship grants is defined by the rate of successful matriculation and completion of post-secondary education.

JSF has learned that scholarships that include wraparound support are more likely to help a student to succeed. Money provides the financial stability and opportunity for post-secondary education, but it is not what gets a student through. Non-monetary supports attached to a scholarship contribute more to post-secondary success than money. This is especially true for students with disabilities.

JSF’s scholarship for people with disabilities attending a school within the State University System of Florida (SUSF) delivers both scholarship and non-monetary support by way of a collaboration of JSF, the SUSF and the Florida Legislature. Scholarships are awarded to students with disabilities who enroll at any one of the 12 SUSF campuses.

The program was founded in 1991. It began with an agreement between JSF’s founder, Theodore Johnson, and the State of Florida, which was expressed by an Act of the Legislature entitled “…The Johnson Scholarship Program.” This Act provides for a scholarship program for students with disabilities to be funded by JSF. It also provides for a 50 percent state match for JSF grants and charges the Department of Education to administer the program.

Over the past 26 years JSF has made grants exceeding $9 million, which have all gone to student scholarships, together with the state match. However, the State’s commitment to administer the scholarship program has proven even more valuable than its matching funding.

The Florida Board of Governor’s office and each campus of the State University System form the backbone of a comprehensive student support system, which accompanies the scholarship. This is the secret sauce that makes the scholarship work. The award of the scholarship may capture a student’s attention, but the real magic of the scholarship lies in the mentoring and assistance that goes with it.

This is not to downplay the importance of money. Without it, JSF has no mission and there are no scholarships. Money is assuredly the main course. But it is the secret sauce that enables students to sit down and stay for dinner. And it is the secret sauce that students remember long afterward. Scholarships plus Supports equals Achievement ($ + S = A).

Secret sauce can be defined as the personal, non-monetary support, wrapped around the scholarship. The Disability Support Services (DSS) at each campus plays a critical role. It advertises the scholarship, receives the applications, leads the selection process, makes the award and provides ongoing support to scholarship recipients. JSF believes that the DSS’ ownership and control of this scholarship process and the support that they provide to each student throughout their college careers is central to the increased persistence and graduation rates of students with disabilities on each campus.

The scholarship program provides reciprocal benefits to the DSS offices, one of which is enhanced awareness of disability issues in other areas of the university. Ten of the 12 DSSs surveyed indicated that they use a selection committee to determine scholarship recipients. The selection committees are comprised of faculty and professionals drawn from various university departments. This increases knowledge of the special aspects and requirements of students with disabilities, thus producing allies for these students across campus. Another enhancement of the DSS profile within the university stems from a supplementary matching grant for scholarships that JSF offers to each SUSF campus. The local DSS office typically takes a leadership role in negotiating the grant and advocating for the matching funds within the university and the development office.

The most important reciprocal benefit that the scholarship provides is the enhanced opportunities for students to connect with the DSS staff and services. Eight out of 12 DSS offices report an increase in the use of services because the scholarship has heightened awareness of the office and the services it has to offer.

The enhanced relationship between the DSS and scholarship recipient gives the DSS access to the recipient’s academic progress. Some schools take advantage of this to determine when they need to offer appropriate guidance, support or to consider or reconsider accommodations. Even the act of applying for the scholarship can help students form social and support networks.

The benefits of mentoring and support for post-secondary students, particularly those at risk, seem self-evident. Anecdotal evidence abounds. However, there is not much reported research. In Mentoring Individuals with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: A Review of the Literature, Brown, Takahashi, and Roberts find distinct themes in the research that was available:

Within these 10 articles, however, several themes did emerge, including: a) the positive role of technology; b) the desire to use current mentees to become future mentors; c) a focus on specific disability groups, such as learning disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and disabilities perceived as mild; d) the usefulness of mentoring for academic, career, and social skills; and e) the value of establishing long-term mentoring relationships.

The DSS at each SUSF campus responds to most of the themes identified by the authors. These offices typically provide adaptive technology, expertise and focus on specific disability groups, academic and social mentoring and long-term relationships. The JSF Scholarship Program also strengthens long-term relationships between the DSS and scholarship recipients. In addition to the annual application and award process, local DSS offices organize recognition events attended by students, parents and faculty. Many times, JSF representatives are in attendance as well.

Next week: Bridging the gap between educational expectations and reality for students with disabilities.