Ever feel like you have no resources around you and have to handle everything on your own? If so, no need to worry anymore. Introducing TRIO, a group of professional adults who are more than welcome to guide you to success. I decided to interview a faculty member who works in TRIO named Kelly Foran who told me all about TRIO and convinced me to join it. I believe this is an area that not a lot of students at Bloomsburg University know about and should know about how it can help them drastically in college.
The whole purpose of TRIO that Kelly mentioned is to support first generation college students, students who may experience documented disability, or students who come from limited income backgrounds. The mission is to support those students in being successful in college and obtaining their degree within a reasonable time and graduating with as little debt as possible. Basically, helping students get through and to the end of college the most ideal way they can.
When you walk into TRIO you receive the most welcoming environment where you feel comfortable. The members who work there always have a big smile on their face, a nice tone in their voice when speaking, and always manages to find the time to ask if there is anything you need guidance on or help with. No matter how busy their schedule is they without fail find a time for you to come in and help deal with your needs. They have the same girl at the front desk that helps schedule future appointments for you. She is a young brunette with curly hair who wears glasses. Always is sweet and has patience with students.
The way TRIO helps students succeed at Bloomsburg is by providing a variety of services for students. They primarily focus on academic and social success. Helping students with academic advising, professional tutoring, financial literacy counseling, scholarship support, and personal and professional mentoring. Prepares students for their careers or moving on to graduate school once they complete their bachelor's degree and supports them with a social network. All students in SSS (Student Support Services) come from similar backgrounds so they can provide each other support through a social network.
To get more into TRIO's professional tutoring, students can access the Learning Center on campus for peer tutoring, but all the tutors in the SSS program are professionals with at least a master's degree in their subject area. Most currently teach at a college, university or retired. TRIO also does a lot of one-on-one tutoring and mentoring with skill building with students, helping with things like time management, organizational skills, test taking, and study strategies. Really helping students navigate all the ins and outs and the unknowns of college is one of the big resources that TRIO provides. TRIO has a dedicated tutoring room with a long table and plenty of chairs. There is even a whiteboard to write examples on for what you are learning. Extra chairs are available for other participants so you can study with them.
For students to get accepted into TRIO, they must submit an electronic application on the TRIO SSS website. Once they receive the application, they must review if students meet at least one of the criteria since TRIO is a federally funded grant. Students must meet one of those three criteria to be eligible for the program and then they do an intake where they talk about the resources, services, and participant requirements because unlike some resources on campus students are making a commitment. Students join the program to follow through and be active in the program and utilize resources. Once they complete their intake then they are officially in the program for good.
The interaction between students and faculty within TRIO is amazing. Theirs real connection between the two. There are two big faculty members in TRIO Kelly and Denise who of course will always be interacting with students daily. They also have close connections with a lot of departments on campus with a lot of faculties who may be referring students to TRIO or checking in on students who are already in the program. TRIO does utilize the CU Succeed system quite frequently so they constantly check in on those alerts that they will be receiving from faculty and following up with students to ensure that they are also then following through.
TRIO has positively impacted many students. Since TRIO is a federally funded grant program, they have specific objectives that they must meet each year as well as measured by the federal government on their retention rates which retention is the number of students who return from year to year. After students leave in the spring semester, if they are reenrolled in the fall semester that means they have been retained at the university. So, TRIO is measured on their retention rates on academic success rates. So, if students are in good academic standing versus being on academic probation and then on their graduation rates. TRIO has always succeeded in the set objectives and has higher retention and graduation rates than the first generation and limited income students at the university who are not TRIO participants. Feedback from students who were part of the program was exceptionally positive. Every year TRIO has a big graduation banquet at the end of the year and the graduating students get to speak who typically share about how "TRIO really was the key supporter for us college students to be successful." For instance, TRIO had a student who graduated recently that stopped in who is now in a master's program here in Bloomsburg, but he was already offered a full-time permanent job with a firm with a business firm and accounting firm.
TRIO allows walk ins, but you typically must wait since they are fairly booked from the beginning of the day to the end of the day with student appointments because TRIO students are required to have biweekly meetings and the participants who may be on academic probation are required to have weekly meetings. They are funded to serve two hundred students, however, typically have more than two hundred students in the program. They tend to see those students either every two weeks or every week which is why TRIO tends to be booked up. Although the workers in TRIO are always happy to take walk-ins as they can fit them in.
If you are curious about how TRIO started, it started back in the 1960s. It was part of President Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty initiatives which is the same time of when the federal Pell grant was started so the federal Pell grant is money that was started to provide students who did not have resources to go to college to be able to go to college. At the same time, they realized many students were now accessing college who previously had not been, but they did not necessarily have a support system in place. Universities and colleges were not necessarily prepared to serve first-generation students or those coming from limited income backgrounds. So, that's why TRIO started to help those students succeed in college. People ask if TRIO is an acronym. It does not stand for anything although originally back in the 1960s there were three programs that were first started and that is why it was called TRIO. There are now eight different programs, Bloomsburg only has two TRIO programs. The one Kelly works for is SSS, and then there is Upward Bound, a program considered a pre-college program, which works with high school students who will be first-generation college students to help prepare them for college. There are other TRIO programs designed to serve military veterans and a program called McNair that works with students to prepare them for doctoral programs. Unfortunately, Bloomsburg does not have those programs but hopefully in the future TRIO could try to get those grants.
If you want to contact TRIO, they are happy to have anyone walk into the office in the
Student Services building. Even students who have not applied to the program can try and
schedule an appointment with one of the staff members to see if you are eligible for the program.
So, either a walk-in or just calling the office is good to set up an appointment.
Lastly, I thought it would be nice to know what a faculty member fondest memory was in TRIO, so I asked Kelly Foran during our interview, and she mentioned "End of year celebrations because we get to hear from our graduating students as well as get to hear them speak about what their journey has been like at Bloomsburg. Including, what is coming ahead for them." It is always truly inspiring for the undergraduates to hear that they were able to make it since they serve as an inspiration and role models.
The whole purpose of TRIO that Kelly mentioned is to support first generation college students, students who may experience documented disability, or students who come from limited income backgrounds. The mission is to support those students in being successful in college and obtaining their degree within a reasonable time and graduating with as little debt as possible. Basically, helping students get through and to the end of college the most ideal way they can.
 |
| "Kelly Foran Director of TRIO Student Support Services" |
The way TRIO helps students succeed at Bloomsburg is by providing a variety of services for students. They primarily focus on academic and social success. Helping students with academic advising, professional tutoring, financial literacy counseling, scholarship support, and personal and professional mentoring. Prepares students for their careers or moving on to graduate school once they complete their bachelor's degree and supports them with a social network. All students in SSS (Student Support Services) come from similar backgrounds so they can provide each other support through a social network.
To get more into TRIO's professional tutoring, students can access the Learning Center on campus for peer tutoring, but all the tutors in the SSS program are professionals with at least a master's degree in their subject area. Most currently teach at a college, university or retired. TRIO also does a lot of one-on-one tutoring and mentoring with skill building with students, helping with things like time management, organizational skills, test taking, and study strategies. Really helping students navigate all the ins and outs and the unknowns of college is one of the big resources that TRIO provides. TRIO has a dedicated tutoring room with a long table and plenty of chairs. There is even a whiteboard to write examples on for what you are learning. Extra chairs are available for other participants so you can study with them.
 |
| "Tutoring Room" |
For students to get accepted into TRIO, they must submit an electronic application on the TRIO SSS website. Once they receive the application, they must review if students meet at least one of the criteria since TRIO is a federally funded grant. Students must meet one of those three criteria to be eligible for the program and then they do an intake where they talk about the resources, services, and participant requirements because unlike some resources on campus students are making a commitment. Students join the program to follow through and be active in the program and utilize resources. Once they complete their intake then they are officially in the program for good.
The interaction between students and faculty within TRIO is amazing. Theirs real connection between the two. There are two big faculty members in TRIO Kelly and Denise who of course will always be interacting with students daily. They also have close connections with a lot of departments on campus with a lot of faculties who may be referring students to TRIO or checking in on students who are already in the program. TRIO does utilize the CU Succeed system quite frequently so they constantly check in on those alerts that they will be receiving from faculty and following up with students to ensure that they are also then following through.
TRIO has positively impacted many students. Since TRIO is a federally funded grant program, they have specific objectives that they must meet each year as well as measured by the federal government on their retention rates which retention is the number of students who return from year to year. After students leave in the spring semester, if they are reenrolled in the fall semester that means they have been retained at the university. So, TRIO is measured on their retention rates on academic success rates. So, if students are in good academic standing versus being on academic probation and then on their graduation rates. TRIO has always succeeded in the set objectives and has higher retention and graduation rates than the first generation and limited income students at the university who are not TRIO participants. Feedback from students who were part of the program was exceptionally positive. Every year TRIO has a big graduation banquet at the end of the year and the graduating students get to speak who typically share about how "TRIO really was the key supporter for us college students to be successful." For instance, TRIO had a student who graduated recently that stopped in who is now in a master's program here in Bloomsburg, but he was already offered a full-time permanent job with a firm with a business firm and accounting firm.
TRIO allows walk ins, but you typically must wait since they are fairly booked from the beginning of the day to the end of the day with student appointments because TRIO students are required to have biweekly meetings and the participants who may be on academic probation are required to have weekly meetings. They are funded to serve two hundred students, however, typically have more than two hundred students in the program. They tend to see those students either every two weeks or every week which is why TRIO tends to be booked up. Although the workers in TRIO are always happy to take walk-ins as they can fit them in.
If you are curious about how TRIO started, it started back in the 1960s. It was part of President Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty initiatives which is the same time of when the federal Pell grant was started so the federal Pell grant is money that was started to provide students who did not have resources to go to college to be able to go to college. At the same time, they realized many students were now accessing college who previously had not been, but they did not necessarily have a support system in place. Universities and colleges were not necessarily prepared to serve first-generation students or those coming from limited income backgrounds. So, that's why TRIO started to help those students succeed in college. People ask if TRIO is an acronym. It does not stand for anything although originally back in the 1960s there were three programs that were first started and that is why it was called TRIO. There are now eight different programs, Bloomsburg only has two TRIO programs. The one Kelly works for is SSS, and then there is Upward Bound, a program considered a pre-college program, which works with high school students who will be first-generation college students to help prepare them for college. There are other TRIO programs designed to serve military veterans and a program called McNair that works with students to prepare them for doctoral programs. Unfortunately, Bloomsburg does not have those programs but hopefully in the future TRIO could try to get those grants.
 |
| "TRIO Banner in Student Services Building" |
Lastly, I thought it would be nice to know what a faculty member fondest memory was in TRIO, so I asked Kelly Foran during our interview, and she mentioned "End of year celebrations because we get to hear from our graduating students as well as get to hear them speak about what their journey has been like at Bloomsburg. Including, what is coming ahead for them." It is always truly inspiring for the undergraduates to hear that they were able to make it since they serve as an inspiration and role models.
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