Cedar Valley College announced the appointment of Dr. Osaro E. Airen as the college’s new Dean of Student Retention and Title III administrator. In his most recent position, Airen was the Director of Multicultural Affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Cedar Valley is one of the seven independently accredited institutions that make up the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD).
In his new role, Airen will administer a $2.45 million, five-year grant from the Department of Education’s Predominantly Black Institution’s (PBI) program. Cedar Valley received its first $575,565 installment of the grant in October 2015. The college will use the grant to promote the success of Black male students and their participation in STEM programs on campus.
Improving educational outcomes for Black male students has been one of the college’s longstanding goals under the 13-year tenure of current Cedar Valley president Dr. Jennifer Wimbish. The college had a 50 percent graduation rate in 2013-14, according to Cedar Valley’s website, but, historically, women have outperformed men in terms of overall graduation numbers.
