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While all Mount Saint Mary’s programs are designed to support its students and maximize their potential for success, students who join ISAE (pronounced “I say”) belong to a large network that focuses on giving students extra support where needed to ensure their success on their Mount journey and beyond.

ISAE, the Institute for Student Academic Enrichment, is run by three women who are all dual Mount/ISAE alums: Director Veronica Martinez ’98, ’00, ’04 MSCP, who has been affiliated with the program for 27 of its 35 years of existence; Associate Director Lisa Villa ’00, ’09MSCP; and Assistant Director Valeria Rizo ’10, ’13.

“The most gratifying thing for me is having the opportunity to pay it forward,” says Rizo. “I remember how confusing it was to navigate college as a first-generation college student. Now I have the privilege of helping students understand what they need to do to be successful at the Mount.”

ISAE is run by federal funds designated by the Higher Education Act through what is called a TRiO program. ISAE is the Mount’s chosen name for its program developed with the TRiO grant.

ISAE’s initial grant was for five years – and was awarded 35 years ago. Seven unprecedented grant cycles later, the program’s funding is stronger than ever despite ever-increasing competition for dollars from both existing programs and colleges hoping to launch a program. The ability to receive multiple, consecutive grants can be attributed to the Mount’s success within its program. “In terms of persistence, good academic standing and graduation rates, ISAE is definitely working,” says Martinez. “We’re in the 90th percentile of success for these three objectives.” 

The core of the program

ISAE participants design an individual educational plan, a guideline for their four years of study, which graduates rank as one of the most beneficial ISAE offerings. Other elements involve both academic-related offerings in addition to wellness and extracurricular activities.

The counseling and academic planning were vital for Villa when she was a student. She wanted to be a lawyer from a young age, but she was struggling in two political science classes during the spring semester of her sophomore year. “My ISAE counselor called me into his office,” she recalls. “He was concerned, but not judgmental. He advised me to talk to my instructors, which I knew I should do, but I was embarrassed.”

Eventually, Villa received personalized tutoring from the professors that enabled her to finish her classes strongly. “My ISAE counselor worked with me that summer and planned a new major/ academic path prior to the start of the fall semester, which still allowed me to graduate in four years.”

Villa was at a TRiO conference her senior year when she realized that she wanted to make working in the program her profession. “It was a striking realization, an epiphany,” she says. “I am forever grateful for that experience because it changed my life. My work in ISAE is not just a job, it is my vocation. And I love it!”