Community Outreach and Corporate Relations
Ministers’ Council/Church Outreach
The Ministers’Council is comprised of church leaders from a variety of local churches in the surrounding community. The purpose of this group is to:
- Provide recommendations to the College for recruitment and retention activities for in-district minority students in the College and in the community, with special focus on minority males.
- Advise the College on issues affecting the surrounding community that may hinder students from attaining their educational goals.
- Collaborate with the College to provide educational workshops and seminars, such as financial aid information sessions to community members.
- Assist with information dissemination to in-district residents about PSC’s broad array of credit and non-credit educational programs, including free courses for high school seniors, tuition waivers for senior citizens, support services for displaced homemakers and employment and educational services for unemployed workers.
In order to accomplish this purpose, we ask our church leaders to:
- Encourage their church’s youth to consider Prairie State College.
- Make students aware Prairie State College offers many scholarships, grants and other financial aid that makes a college education far less costly than commonly believed.
- Make students aware that we offer tuition-free classes for in-district juniors entering their senior year, with a 2.5/4.0 GPA. Encourage students to see their guidance counselor for more details.
- Bring a group of students for a campus visit.
- Send the names and addresses of junior and senior high school students to Prairie State College’s Advising and Counseling office so they can receive information about the college and what we offer.
- Allow Prairie State College to submit information about our College in your church bulletin.
- Invite us to provide financial aid presentations to your high school aged youth groups.
- Provide a scholarship for a student from your church who attends Prairie State College.
- Invite us to attend outreach events your church hosts in order to promote the College.
- Invite us to present educational seminars to parents highlighting topics such as selecting the best college for your student, and financing your student’s education.
- Invite us to encourage elementary and middle schooled aged congregation members to consider higher education.
- Invite us to have an outreach table after one of your church services, such as during the coffee and donuts hour. (Note: Each member of our College staff worships in his or her own way, so in order to respect each person’s personal belief system; we will not accept invitations to attend full church services.)
We are delighted to forge this relationship with the many churches and create additional ideas for encouraging congregation members to consider higher education. Moreover, while we wish to accommodate all requests, our staff needs at least two weeks notice to prepare a presentation for church members, or to attend an event.
Please complete the Outreach/Presentation Request Form (32KB PDF) and return it to Esther Pacheco either by dropping it off at the Office of Student Life & Multicultural Affairs, Rm. 1180, or faxing it to (708) 709-7743. For more information, you may contact Angela Winters-Harmon, Assistant Dean of Student Life & Multicultural Affairs, at (708) 709-3781 or awinters@prairiestate.edu.
The Ministers’ Council meets throughout the academic year. Please contact the Vice President of Student Affairs & Dean of Students, Mary Reaves to receive more information about meeting times at (708) 709-3507.