University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri CEO Kristen Slaughter sign a memorandum of understanding outlining the details of a partnership between the university and the organization that will provide scholarships and wraparound supports to future students who enroll at UMSL after taking part in the BBBSEMO program. Derrick Freeman (at left), the director of University Student Support at UMSL, and Eboni Buckles (at right), the director of BBBSEMO’s Big Futures Program, worked together to facilitate the partnership. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

The University of Missouri–St. Louis is committed to expanding access to higher education for students of every background and helping them bolster their futures by earning their degrees.

To that end, UMSL is once again partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and will provide $5,250 Margaret Bush Wilson Scholarships to BBBSEMO students enrolling in the university beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. The students will also have access to supports as they make progress toward their degrees.

Chancellor Kristin Sobolik joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri CEO Kristen Slaughter in signing the agreement at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon in the ED Collabitat on UMSL’s South Campus.

Derrick Freeman, UMSL’s director of University Student Support, welcomes the audience a signing ceremony Wednesday afternoon in the ED Collabitat as the university formalized a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.

“We have an obligation to educate our community,” said Derrick Freeman, UMSL’s director of University Student Support, a department within the Student Outreach and Support unit, who helped facilitate the agreement. “With that obligation, we need to understand that everybody doesn’t have the same opportunity. This is one of the ways that we’re supporting the communities that are around us, by offering these partnerships and offering opportunities for students to come to UMSL and to assist them financially. When we get the students into our university, it’s our obligation to keep those students. Each student that is touched and part of this program – it’s going to change their lives.”

BBBSEMO serves more than 8,000 people, including children and families, in St. Louis City and County; St. Charles and Jefferson Counties; and Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties through the comprehensive work of the agency. The partnership with UMSL underscores the commitment of both organizations to support the educational journeys of young adults in the St. Louis region and Eastern Missouri.

UMSL had an earlier agreement with BBBSEMO that ended in 2022, but Freeman and Maya Scruggs Hicks, the university’s executive director of Student Outreach and Support, pushed to revive it while working in collaboration with Eboni Buckles, the Director of BBBSEMO’s Big Futures program.

“As we celebrated this milestone, we were enthusiastic about advancing our mission of empowering young alumni and equipping them with the necessary resources for success,” Buckles said. “Our collaboration with the University of Missouri–St. Louis presents exciting opportunities to make a positive impact on the lives of our future leaders.”

The timing of the agreement is also fitting as BBBSEMO marks the 10th anniversary of the Big Futures Program, an initiative designed to support mentorship for young adults aged 18-25 as they navigate through “their 3 E’s” – enrollment, enlistment and/or employment.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri alumni mentoring manager Raven McNeil, a 2016 UMSL graduate, discusses the potential impact a new agreement between UMSL and BBBSEMO can have on future students.

BBBSEMO is committing to identifying students who would be a good fit for UMSL and meet the university’s selective admissions requirements. The organization will initiate contact with the university and connect students to UMSL admissions representatives.

The university also will host BBBSEMO students and their families in annual personalized visit days and provide financial aid workshops.

“A lot of times students who are in programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters are first-generation students, and they don’t know a lot about the college process,” Freeman said. “One hurdle could be applying to college. How do you do the financial aid package? That’s where the counselors come in at the schools, and we’re an extension of that because we come in and say, ‘Now that you’re here, this is what you need to do.’”

Once students are enrolled at UMSL, they will be assigned a success coach in the Office of University Student Support, who will serve as their primary support contact and meet monthly to gauge how they’re doing on campus.

UMSL will deploy a wraparound model, making sure it is supporting students in all facets of personal, professional and academic life, and will work with staff members from BBBSEMO to monitor their academic and social well-being and plan interventions to support their success and work through barriers.

Each BBBSEMO student will be assigned an academic advisor to ensure they are making satisfactory progress toward their degree. They will have access to resources for tutoring, professional development workshops, academic support services, cultural enrichment and mentorship.

“We believe strongly that higher education has a chance to transform the lives of young people, and we are proud to join with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri to help students in the St. Louis region build bright futures,” Sobolik said.