By Gregory Childress : The Herald-Sun

Sept, 12, 2008

DURHAM -- When Dorothy Brower Brokaw walked into a third-floor conference room at Durham Technical Community College, Isaac Thomas, George King and Demetrius Thompson instinctively rose and offered the college administrator their hands.

By respectfully rising and acknowledging Brokaw, the assistant to the college president for community outreach, the three men, all leaders in the college's Visions: Minority Male Leadership Initiative, are practicing what they preach.

"That's not just me, that's for any female," Brokaw said.

As mentors for about 15 students who signed up for the four-year-old program this fall, King, Thomas and Thompson are in the business of helping minority males succeed.

They do so by working to improve the young men's social skills -- standing when a woman enters the room, for example. But more important, they provide what Visions' leaders call "intrusive academic advising" to keep the younger set on point in the classroom.

"It's a vehicle used to assist minority males to develop academically, socially, personally and professionally," said King, an academic adviser at the school and Visions volunteer.

Visions initially was funded by a grant passed through the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety to the N.C. Community College System. The program, now funded by Durham Tech and private donations, grew out of concern about the large number of minority males who arrived on the campus unprepared for the rigors of college.

"Ten minority males might enroll in this college, three generally graduate," said King. "We celebrate the 30 percent, but the question is what happens to the 70 percent."

National studies show that males in general, but minority males in particular, have a more difficult time closing the deal after enrolling in a college or university.

It's a trend Visions leaders desperately want to change at Durham Tech by giving program participants the tools they need to succeed.

"The ones who don't persist didn't grow up in an environment where education was valued, or the value of education wasn't thrust upon them," King said.

Even though many minority males have the intellectual capacity to succeed, Visions leaders say they often lack good-old fashioned know how.

That's where Visions steps in to provide "intrusive academic advising," which includes intensive sessions helping participants understand course syllabi and charting strategies, sometimes assignment-by-assignment, to help them pass courses.

But Visions leaders say it's also important for students to know when to drop a class because a good grade-point-average is linked to college essentials, such as financial aid.

"We talk to students a lot about protecting their GPA," Brokaw said. "If it falls, we know how difficult it is to build that GPA back up."

King, the academic advisor, said Visions students are also told to reach out to instructors by scheduling appointments to discuss the course material and instructors' expectations. At the end of the semester, having made contact with an instructor can sometimes make the difference between passing and failing a class.

"We say you need to put your best foot forward," King said.

Thompson, a college mentoring specialist who runs the program, said the goal is to convince 8 to 10 percent of the 500 or so minority male students who attend Durham Tech each semester to sign up for Visions.

To make the program attractive Visions takes participants on numerous field trips, including visits to college campuses. A jazz band was started after Thompson learned that a number of participants had musical talent. Finding an outlet for that talent is one strategy to keep students in involved.

The more extracurricular involvement, the better the chance of keeping students in school and working hard in the classroom.

"Often, I've heard folks say our students take classes at Durham Tech," said Thompson. "I want them [students] to say I attend Durham Tech. That's my college."

Brokaw said most Visions participants have not gone on to earn associate's degrees or transfer to four-year colleges. That doesn't mean the program has failed. If a participant managed to find employment because of skills he gained in the program, then the program can claim success.

"We may not have a huge number who have gone through the whole continuum and gone on to a bachelor's degree, but we can say we have had a very positive impact on most," Brokaw said.