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.
“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.
“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.”
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.