SOU’s TRIO-SSS program marks milestone

The TRIO-Student Support Services (SSS) program at SOU, which helps non-traditional students succeed and graduate, celebrated its 30^th anniversary this fall. The federally supported program marked the landmark with a "birthday party" last month at its office in Room 322 of the Stevenson Union.

The SOU program helps students who are low-income, first-generation and/or have a disability with services that include holistic, personalized academic advising, tutoring, student success plans, career guidance, preparation for graduate programs and cultural enrichment trips, and other fun and educational activities.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Education provides $338,622 per year in funding for SOU's Success at Southern/TRIO Program, which is limited to 190 students per academic year and has served more than 1,700 since 1994.

Students must apply to participate in the Success at Southern/TRIO-SSS program and those who meet eligibility requirements are invited to interview about their educational goals, career ambitions and academic barriers. Students who are accepted into the program must each attend a mandatory orientation session and an initial personal education plan meeting, then become eligible for all of the Success at Southern/TRIO-SSS services.

TRIO is a federally funded organization that was created following passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965. It helps disadvantaged students progress through the academic pipeline from middle school through graduate school. There are currently eight sections of TRIO, and the SOU grant is part of the Student Support Services Program.

SOU also participates in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program - a separately funded TRIO program that prepares eligible undergraduate students for eventual doctoral studies.

TRIO programs help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those with disabilities, to negotiate obstacles that may hinder their academic progress. TRIO students are more likely to stay in good academic standing, persist to the next grade level and graduate compared to their peers.

SOU is one of 23 colleges and universities in Oregon that offer TRIO-SSS.