AANAPISI Grant

Shoreline Community College was awarded the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) grant in 2021, aimed to improve the retention, progression, and graduation rates of its API students.

Both the region and the city of Shoreline are diverse communities in which Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders make up 16% of the population. For the past decade, Shoreline and King County have become more ethnically diverse in which 22% of Shoreline residents and 23% of King County residents are foreign born citizens. Asian Americans now equal 20% of King county’s population. Shoreline’s student population reflects these demographic trends.

The AANAPISI grant will improve and expand the Shoreline Community College's capacity to serve Asian American, Native-American Pacific Islander, and low-income students. It is designed to close equity gaps by providing comprehensive onboarding, orientation, and financial aid counseling; critical academic advising and career planning; academic learning activities; and peer mentoring and tutoring services. The innovative project will also offer supports and programming to build a sense of belonging and community among AAPI students.

Goals of the AANAPISI Grant

Goal 1 - Increase by 2% each year by establishing comprehensive intake, onboarding, and orientation programming that leads students to a First Year Learning Community.

  • Onboarding: Develop comprehensive onboarding and enrollment navigation. Guidance Math and English placement course selection that aligns to both their academic level and career path.
  • Orientation: Hold accessible, multi-format orientation for AAPI and low-income students that welcomes them.
  • Peer Support: Connect students to support services, peer mentors, career counseling, affinity groups, and year-round academic engagement activities.

Goal 2 - Each year, increase fall-to-fall retention by 2% and degree completion or transfer by 2% by providing high-touch navigation, career planning, advising, and academic supports, and building a sense of community and belonging among AAPI and low-income students.

  • Success Course: New students will enroll in College 101 with embedded peer mentors to build academic skills and to create a sense shared academic purpose, belonging, and community.
  • Career Navigation/Advising: Provide high-touch career exploration and academic advising that progresses students’ educational planning and sets educational goals.
  • Peer Tutoring: Provide enhanced peer tutoring for gateway math and English courses

Goal 3 - Build institutional capacity and increase faculty, staff, and overall college awareness and understanding of AAPI cultures and develop meaningful classroom interventions and strategies to respectfully engage with AAPI and low-income students.

  • Seminars: Inspire positive change by creating professional development opportunities for faculty and staff that expand awareness and knowledge of the diversity within AAPI communities and the current and historical challenges and success of the AAPI groups.
  • Community of Practice: Establish a community of practice to facilitate broader institutional learning and change that will positively impact AAPI and low-income populations.