Panola College awarded $300,000 SSAP 3.0 grant to expand student success initiatives

Panola College has been awarded a $300,000 grant through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Student Success Acceleration Program (SSAP) 3.0 to support the College’s Resource Center Academic Persistence Initiative. The two-year grant, which will run from September 2026 through August 2028, will support efforts to increase academic achievement, persistence, and credential completion among academically disadvantaged students.

Through the grant, Panola College will expand the work of the Resource Center and strengthen connections between academic instruction and student support services. The initiative will include expanded tutoring and academic support, as well as assistance addressing barriers that can interfere with students’ ability to remain enrolled, including transportation and childcare.

“This grant will allow us to build on the support systems already in place at Panola College and create stronger connections between the classroom and the resources available to our students,” said Emily Zabcik, Dean of Academic Transfer at Panola College. “By addressing both academic challenges and barriers outside the classroom, we can provide students with more comprehensive support and help them stay on track toward completing their educational goals.”

The grant will also fund a full-time instructional designer who will collaborate with faculty to strengthen course design using student learning outcome and assessment data. Initial efforts will focus on identified gateway and core curriculum courses, with improvements in course organization, accessibility, assessment alignment, student engagement, and the integration of academic support resources. Successful strategies will then be expanded to additional courses.

Throughout the grant period, Panola College will monitor student participation and outcomes, including course success, persistence, credential completion, and graduation. The initiative builds upon services and resources already available at the College while creating more intentional connections among departments.

The funding will allow Panola College to strengthen existing student success efforts, address academic and nonacademic barriers, and develop sustainable practices designed to benefit students beyond the grant period.