San Jac receives $200,000 Trellis Foundation grant to strengthen student support
Grant will enhance data integration and advising tools to support student persistence and completion
PASADENA, Texas - San Jacinto College has received a $200,000 grant from the Trellis Foundation to strengthen data integration and advising tools supporting implementation of the ASAP student success model.
The one-year grant will fund student support data integration and advising infrastructure to help prepare San Jacinto College for implementation of the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) student success model, supported through Arnold Ventures. The goal of the data integration project is to improve how student information is connected across College systems and presented to advisors, to document current available interventions, and to create a framework for other schools to follow.
“Students often interact with multiple areas of the College as they work toward their educational goals, and our advisors need a complete picture of those interactions to provide the right support at the right time,” said Joanna Zimmermann, associate vice chancellor of student services at San Jacinto College. “This grant will help us bring that information together in a more meaningful way so our teams can identify needs earlier, coordinate resources more effectively, and help students continue progressing toward completion.”
Currently, information related to advising, early alerts, emergency aid, tutoring, and other student support services can be housed across multiple College systems. Through the Trellis Foundation grant, San Jacinto College will map those student-support data elements, establish consistent definitions, and improve integration among Banner, the College’s customer relationship management system, and other platforms.
The project will also support improvements to the advisor-facing dashboards that combine academic, financial, and student-support information. These tools are designed to help advisors identify students who may need additional assistance, see which interventions or resources a student has already received and determine where follow-up may be needed. Advisors serving Promise and ASAP-eligible students will help test and refine the tools before broader implementation.
“Strong advising depends on having the right information at the right time,” said Dr. Robin Ellis, Vice President of Programs for Trellis Foundation. “This investment will help San Jacinto College strengthen the data infrastructure advisors need to provide more coordinated support to students and implement the ASAP model effectively. We’re pleased to partner with San Jacinto College again on this work”
The initial work will support at least 900 Promise/ASAP-eligible students, with the College improving production dashboards that provide advisors with real-time intervention and risk information. The broader improvements to San Jacinto College’s advising and data infrastructure are expected to ultimately benefit students beyond the initial cohort by strengthening how information is used across advising, enrollment, and student-support functions.
By the conclusion of the grant period, San Jacinto College plans to have a standardized student-support data dictionary, stronger integrations among College systems, improved advisor dashboards and governance processes in place to support continued data-informed improvement. The College will also develop an intervention landscape and ASAP layering map that can serve as a planning resource for other institutions considering implementation of the ASAP model.
“Ultimately, this work is about helping our people better serve our students,” Zimmermann said. “When advisors have timely, useful information at their fingertips, they can spend less time trying to piece together a student’s experience and more time helping that student determine what comes next.”
About Trellis Foundation
We believe every Texas student deserves the opportunity to earn a postsecondary credential
or degree that helps them achieve the future they envision for themselves and their
families. We invest in the programs, practices, and policies that remove barriers
and accelerate the journey. Learn more at www.trellisfoundation.org. About San Jacinto College Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020 and 2026. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the The Commission on Colleges and Universities.
