News release from IPFW:
IPFW TRIO Student Support Services Recieves 5-year Grant Continuation Worth $1.1 Million
(September 9, 2015) — Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) received a $1.1 million grant to fund student success services for the next five years. This grant is a reauthorization of IPFW’s original grant five years ago.
“With this funding, the TRIO Student Support Services program will be able to continue providing direct services and support to first-generation students,” said Shubitha Kever, director of the IPFW TRIO office. “TRIO SSS students will participate in programming that includes workshops, peer mentoring, teambuilding exercises, and leadership development activities.”
TRIO is a federally-funded college opportunity program started by an act of Congress during the Johnson administration in the 1960s that motivates and supports students from less advantaged backgrounds in their pursuit of a college degree. TRIO programs provide mentoring, motivation, and encouragement, as well as personal counseling, financial guidance, tutoring, and other support necessary for educational access and retention of first generation, low income, and/or disabled students.
Metrics by which eligible programs are deemed worthy of the grant money include student graduation rate, the percentage of students in good academic standing, and the persistence of said students.
“The TRIO SSS program is measured on how successful we are at supporting our students, helping them stay in school, and helping them finish their degrees,” said Ken Christmon, associate vice chancellor for diversity and multicultural affairs. “By reauthorizing our grant, they’re telling us to keep doing what we’re doing to help our students because it’s working.”
The program offers a variety of services, including tutoring through the Centers for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA), Study Skills Development, Graduate School Admissions, and the loaning of laptops, calculators, and cameras to TRIO students.
In addition to the official TRIO offices, there is a TRIO student organization that serves as a support group for students and people who want to help them. The club will take a service trip to Puerto Rico in spring 2016 to assist in the preservation of manatee habitats.
For more information, contact Shubitha Kever, director of TRIO Student Support Services, at 260-481-6881 or kevers@ipfw.edu.
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