Cristo Rey Network Partnership

A commitment to recruit, support, and ensure Cristo Rey students' success in their post-secondary education

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As a Catholic college founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1948, Stonehill would like to help you build on the rigorous academic standards you have already experienced and offer you the opportunity to further your studies in a community where exceptional minds are fortified by strong character.

Our partnership with the Cristo Rey Network National University Partner program is a commitment to recruit and support Cristo Rey students to help ensure their success in their post-secondary education.

Financial Support

Fee waiver

The Office of Undergraduate Admission will provide an application fee waiver to Cristo Rey Network students in order to remove any monetary barrier for any student interested in applying to Stonehill.

Scholarships

Stonehill has committed to meet the full, federally defined need (not to exceed direct billed costs) for a minimum of four incoming first-year students each year using institutional grant, state and federal grants, and federal loans.

All institutional grants for these selected students will take the form of a “Cristo Rey Scholarship” and will be offered to admitted students from Cristo Rey Network schools on a rolling basis until four commitments are secured.  These four commitments will include at least one student from outside of Massachusetts. 

First-Generation Scholar Program

First-Generation Scholar Program is a collaborative transition program designed to provide academic, professional, financial and social support to incoming first-gen students.

  • A $500 book stipend to help defray the cost of textbooks and study materials for the first semester
  • A 1-credit study skill course with a first-gen-specific lens that gives students space on campus to reflect on their experiences as a first-gen student, a technique that has been shown to destigmatize a first-gen status and increase self-worth in students
  • 1-on-1 Academic Coaching with a qualified administrator to help improve executive functioning skills necessary for college success (e.g. time management, organization, etc.)
  • Priority registration and schedule review, giving first-gen students early access to course selection and advising for every semester moving forward
  • Connection with a 'first-gen ambassador' - an upper-class first-gen student at Stonehill who acts as a 'big' to engage students socially and model successful academic behavior
  • Current students will also have the opportunity to be Ambassadors in subsequent years, which continues connectedness with both Academic Services and the broader first-gen community at Stonehill 
  • Purposeful and intentional advisor pairings: FGSP students are paired with faculty advisors who have a specific interest, passion, and investment in the success of underrepresented students at Stonehill College.  

General Academic Support

In addition to faculty advising, specific collaborations and programs, The Office of Academic Services & Advising (OAS&A) also provides general academic support to all students including our underrepresented populations.  This includes:

Our Faculty Advisor Program provides students with direct, one-to-one academic guidance and mentorship from within their chosen major.

1-on-1 academic support designed to support students who are struggling academically.

OAS&A is available to students when they need support on how to navigate higher education systems with faculty (e.g. the use of office hours, drafting professional emails, etc.). These areas can act as significant barriers particularly for underrepresented students, so OAS&A provides support to help ease that burden.  

Every student receives a mid-year assessment in all of their courses, which provides a snap-shot of where that student stands in a course. Academic Services then deploys a series of outreach to any struggling student to ensure that no student 'falls through the cracks'.

Since Academic Services works will all students from all class years, we also provide advising about degree progress. This helps ensure that we stay connected with students throughout their entire academic tenure at Stonehill. There is no hand-off or shuffling of students after the first year.  

Intercultural Affairs

Our Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA) provides opportunities for support and collaboration.

IEP participants are matched with a Big Sibling from the Advocates for a Brighter Stonehill Leadership Program who will serve as a mentor and guide for them as they begin their journey at Stonehill. Students participate in workshops, discussion groups, fun social activities, and meet their Big Sibling. In these workshops, we discuss issues of diversity, get to know other students from diverse communities and experiences, and prepare for our own leadership at Stonehill College.

Dialogue Groups include GenOne, InterAct, LGBTQ Self-Identified Group, MOSAIC (Men of Service, Academia, Integrity, and Character), RISE (Radiant, Inspirational, Sisters Empowered)

Student clubs are directly overseen by the Office of Student Engagement and the Student Government Association, but the clubs receive additional support and advising from OIA staff.

The assistant director for mentorship and advising provides advising, mentorship and support to first-generation students at Stonehill and collaborates with campus partners and alumni to offer a host of programs targeted to this population of students. 

The assistant director for mentorship and advising provides advising, mentorship and support to first-generation students at Stonehill and collaborates with campus partners and alumni to offer a host of programs targeted to this population of students.

For You