The Utah Chapeter of ASPIRE

As I sit here thinking about what to say to all of you I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the trust you have given me as your president. Many of you have years more experience in TRiO than I do. Many of you have more life experience than I do (and I am not talking chronological experience - although this is true...). But all of you have been so wonderful and patient and supportive. It is hard to articulate my appreciation - only because I don’t know words that would properly convey my thoughts. So I would like you all to know how each of you have made and are making a difference in the lives of TRiO students and colleagues. It takes all of us to make TRiO work.

Talk about TRiO working! TRiO Day Proclamation Signing and Luncheon - huge successes! Candi Ramos did a wonderful job introducing the scholarship recipients and their acceptance speeches were so touching. As the Mayor of West Valley City was leaving I thanked him for his attendance. He looked at me and with watery eyes said, “I had NO IDEA this was going to be such an emotional experience for me today!” The dancers were great. Dr. Theresa Martinez inspired us all. The view book WAS INCREDIBLE!!! Marco Diaz, from Congressman Cannon’s office loved the book and told me his own personal story. He really tuned in to what TRiO is all about and said he would be certain to share his experience and the book with the Congressman and his staff. We also have some GREAT pictures which we will be sharing.

Coming down the pike! You should all be getting information about the Utah Chapter of ASPIRE conference. Registration forms and info on the web. Silent auction and raffle information has gone out. If you haven’t gotten the information you need please contact Julie Walker and Ruth deJesus (hotel, registration, etc - SUU), Mike Anderson (Silent Auction - Snow), Jaime Yokum (Raffle CEU-Blanding). Please come prepared to engage with each other. We need this time to learn about TRiO, get to know each other (MORE than just our names and institution!) and rejuvenate.

POLICY! Please send me a note if you are planning on going. EVEN IF YOU HAVE TOLD ME BEFORE - please let me know. julie.jackman@slcc.edu. I need confirmations asap from each person who will be attending. It is a matter of preparing information and having rooms big enough when we meet on Capitol Hill. It is going to be an exciting experience this year!

Stay well. If there are any questions you have or if there is anything I can do for you please let me know.

As part of a Cultural activity we were able to take 5 students to “A Few Good Men Dancin’” at Kingsbury Hall on Thursday, February 19. The night began with a nice dinner, and then we went to the show. This was a great learning experience for some of the students since they had never been to a performance like this, or even to a nice restaurant for that matter.

We will be bringing several students to Trio Day on February 27. We will continue the day by taking the students to Clarke Planetarium and to dinner.

Scott has been holding several workshops during the last two months. We have gotten a good response from students.

We took students on campus tours to Utah State University, Utah Valley State College and Weber State University in the month of February. We have had a hard time filling up our van, and if anyone has suggestions on how we can get more students to participate in these trips we would love to hear your ideas.

Last month’s newsletter didn’t happen. You could say that Dave who submits the newsletter for Dixie State took a vacation. Susan and Dave attended a financial aid training seminar. Their little working vacation was held in St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands. Hey, it was either there or Biloxi Mississippi what would you have chosen? Needless to say, it was a lot of work to prepare to leave for a week and a lot of work when they got home. Life is tough sometimes.

This past month we have been taking new applications for the Participation Grant to be awarded for spring semester and summer. 42 participants have already applied for spring and 17 have applied for summer. Dave has created a formula in Excel that allows the Participation Grant amounts for each applicant to be determined on an unbiased need basis. The formula proved very useful for fall awards and is getting refined as we award for spring and summer. Dave hopes to have a format that can be presented and shared at an upcoming conference.

Jonathan has been working on updating Transitions. Transitions is a booklet that shows all of the bachelors, masters, and doctorates that are offered at each institution. This has been the inspiration for the Major Guide found at: http://www.utahsbr.edu/majorsguide/Majorsguide.html This book has made it easy for a student to see which schools offer what and how strong the program is. It is a must for transfer advising.

On February 10^th we held our monthly workshop. 32 people were in attendance for a workshop entitled, “How to write an Essay”. Susan Garner, a seasoned SSS advisor of 11/2 years, with over 10 years as an English teacher, took students through the process of creating literary masterpieces. The world will be a better place now that these 32 students know how to pontificate.

January 29^th we took 3 students to SUU for a college tour. They were able to meet with advisors in their majors and student ambassadors.

This month we invited our Financial Aid Department to lunch. We would highly encourage you to hold Financial Aid “training” at your favorite local restaurant and give that group of people the thanks that they deserve. Our luncheon was met with surprise and appreciation. You can bet that whatever assistance that we need for our students will continually take priority in the financial aid department.

Dave has been working on a webpage for The Utah Chapter of Aspire. The following is Julie Jackman’s vision of what the Website will do:

“ I want our state web site to be a place where we can refer business/community/political leaders for more information. It is being developed as part of our State Initiative.

“I would like our home page to focus on information on the Utah Chapter of ASPIRE (what TRiO is, how long it has been in the state, # of students served, funding. Then some of the links would be each institution, a page of the board with contact #s, COE, FAFSA.ed.gov, Utah mentor, state reports, directory, events, etc...”

The Site is close to a point where it can be used. When it comes out Dave would love to get feedback from across the state.

About the Trio Luncheon, sorry we couldn’t come, but that is why we live in St. George, so we don’t have to drive in weather like that. Isn’t that the reason why you are coming to St. George for the Utah Chapter of Aspire Conference next month?

Upward Bound has just completed its Winter Seminar that included a “Price is Right” game show. We were able to give several prizes to our students due to generous donations from local vendors. We are currently planning our college tour for juniors which tours will include visits of the following campuses: UofU, USU, BYU, WSU, UVSC and Westminster. We are also going to participate in team building activities at CLAS ropes course in Provo and watch the IMAX film “Adrenaline” at Jordan Commons. We are currently assisting our seniors with filing their online FAFSA forms and are looking forward to our summer program.

February was another busy month for the ETS program at Dixie State College. Our staff and students want to thank all of you for your great support and participation in the Student Leadership Congress in January. We are still receiving positive feedback from those who attended and we are so pleased that you felt that this was a successful project and have so willingly accepted to host the event in the years to come. Thank you Utah ASPIRE for your confidence in a new concept and for your support in all areas of providing this opportunity for the TRIO participants in Utah. Kim and her students did a fantastic job!

After recovering from the Student Leadership Congress, six members of the ETS staff traveled to Savannah, Georgia, for the RSPP ASPIRE training from February 4^th-8^th. It was a great training session and we learned so much about program improvement. We also had a great time in a beautiful city with wonderful historical sights to see and fabulous food to sample. We greatly enjoyed the “southern hospitality”.

The next two weeks were spent assisting students as they applied for college admission, financial aid, and for application to the National Student Leadership Congress and to the Upward Bound Math Science program at NAU. We hope to hear the good news that our students will be accepted into these various programs.

On February 25^th, seven members of our staff accompanied 101 sophomore students on a tour of the campuses at UNLV and CCSN. It was a great opportunity for our students to visit large campuses with much diversity in a city very different from St. George. The students received a lot of great information that will hopefully assist them in making wise decisions about attending college.

Finally, we were very appreciative that two of our ETS students received ASPIRE scholarships and Kim Coon and Annette Vest accompanied them on Friday, February 27^th to the TRIO Day luncheon at SLCC. The weather conditions were not favorable for the entire staff to travel to Salt Lake City, so we were grateful that they were able to represent us and to return home safely. We would also like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make TRIO Day successful and to Joni Lindsey for the amazing book that she assembled and printed. We are so fortunate to have so many talented and dedicated individuals working in the TRIO programs and thanks to all of you for all that you do on a daily basis to enrich the lives of us and our students!

Student Support Services had many successful activities during the month of February. We took a group of 10 students to the University of Utah on a campus visit, we also had a smaller visit to UVSC; both were very successful. We had our annual Pell Pizza Party and helped a lot of students file their Federal Financial aid for the 2004-05 academic year. The math workshops continued this month along with an MBTI workshop (helping students realize their interests through personality assessment), Communications workshop (discussing the various communication styles) and the Scholarship workshop (how to write an essay and create a scholarship file). We also worked on the finishing touches for the TRiO day celebration. Thank you to all who came.

We have also been working on getting the word out about the Quest Summer Bridge program presenting to various high schools in the area. If you want more information or an application for the Quest program please see our website www.slcc.edu/sss and click on the Quest link on the left.

In February, ETS-College Bound advisor Monique Reymus took 30 students on a field trip to reward participation in ETS workshops; students enjoyed the “Ultimate Mars” show at the Clark Planetarium.

The 2^nd annual “Road to College” program was held Saturday, February 28 at SLCC. The program gives junior high school students and their parents a head start in planning educational goals. One hundred fifty students and parents attended to hear speakers Ron Boon (Utah Jazz), Shauna Thomas (Fox 13), and Judge Andrew Valdez talk about college and options. Other presentations included what high school classes will prepare students for college and ways to fund college.

The past couple of months have been busy for the TRiO staff and students of SUU. The Student Support Services project has enrolled the 150 students we are funded to serve and now spend our days in offering tutoring, advisement, math classes and general positive support to the students. Despite numerous changes on the campus which deal with academics, accreditation and shifting priorities, the SSS staff remains positive and focused on serving our students. We are also beginning to contemplate the magnitude of change that we may have to undertake in writing a new grant during the summer. But, no one wants to address that until we get through this academic year! The SSS staff that attended the TRiO Day celebration in SLC had a fun time and we were delighted to honor one of our exceptional students with the UT-ASPIRE Scholarship.

The Talent Search project has also been very busy with their 650 enrolled participants. They just finished a fun college tour for middle school students at SUU last week and take a group of highschool students on a tour to BYU and UVSC later this week. Somehow in between tours and activities, Director Julie Walker and Parent Specialist Tami Newton-Shugart had time to lead their Cedar High girls to become co-champs of the Region 9 Girls Basketball competition! They went on to the State competition but have to wait another year to win that one! Congrats to Julie and Tami for their great achievements with ETS and CHS Girls Basketball. Not a group to sit idle, the ETS staff and selected students will attend a Leadership Retreat on March 11-12 at the Goodfellow House outside Kanab in a beautiful canyon area. They have many challenging activities planned including repelling and rock climbing. A service project of cleaning up the historic Kanab cemetery will also be completed. Good work ETS!!

The Upward Bound project has also had a busy couple of months with school visits and honoring students with the UT-ASPIRE Scholarship at TRiO Day in SLC. Director Leanne Maxwell also experienced the supreme joy of welcoming her first grandchild into the world! Leanne’s son Patrick and his wife had a beautiful baby boy (Joshua) on January 19th and Leanne spent the first 2 weeks of February in Milwaukee spoiling this newest family member. She is still so excited and has plenty of cute photos to share with everyone….just ask her the next time you see her!

Upward Bound is also preparing for a dynamite Spring On-Campus weekend in April with their students and we all look forward to the energy and activities this group brings to SUU. After that weekend, it is a crazy rush as the summer program seems to arrive all too soon. We are currently advertising for our summer Tutor/Counselors and hope to have a great group of applicants to interview.

SUU will have a contingent of staff attending the Policy Seminar and we look forward to seeing everyone at the UT-ASPIRE Conference in sunny St. George!

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

FEBRUARY 2004 REPORT

February was a busy month for Student Support Services at Utah State University. On going activities include individual tutoring, math labs, and a writing tutor. Carol Sainsbury reviewed midterm reports on SSS participants status in their classes and counseled with students who were not doing well.

In addition to their teaching responsibilities, Wendy Beck and Marie Donigan conducted two math study skills workshops. The “Mastering Math” workshop helped students identify weakness in their study habits and demonstrated methods for improving them. The “Getting Your Money’s Worth” workshop showed the students how they could use their textbooks more effectively. Nazih Al- Rashid also gave an informative workshop on how to apply for graduate school.

Our TRIO celebration began on February 17 when Wendy Beck and Carol Sainsbury represented our program at the proclamation signing. On February 25 we celebrated Trio Day with a “Souper Bowl”. Program participants and Student Services colleagues were given tickets to lunch in the “SSS Stadium”. We had a great turnout! Two days later on February 27 Nazih, Carol, Wendy, and Carolyn were able to celebrate at the lunch held at SLCC. Our student, Marco Sanchez, attended and was recognized as an ASPIRE-UTAH Scholarship winner.

The 2004 TRIO Booklet is the best ever! Congratulations to those who produced it.

This month was full of wonderful news and events! We organized a campus-wide TRiO Forum that was successfully attended. Many different campus departments and organizations, a writer for the school paper, The Chronicle, greatly appreciated the voice and story of each of the students. The panel was made up of three SSS and three UB students. Each student talked about how TRiO Programs have impacted them and helped them become more successful toward their educational endeavors. Before the forum began we had a short munch and mingle in the foyer. Here we posted biographies of active participants from both programs. Everyone really enjoyed learning more about some of our students. As many of you know, we did make the paper!

Also, Steve Baumann, Roberto Hernandez, and Candi Ramos were able to attend the ASPIRE Training Institute in Las Vegas at the end of January. The training was “Using Technologies: Strategies to Retain and Graduate TRiO Students.” It was an excellent training. We have and are planning on implementing many of the techniques and useful information that was taught to us. One of our most favorite sessions that we attended was on E-Portfolios. At the end of March Roberto will be doing an introductory workshop about E-Portfolios. We are excited to put into practice the things we have learned. We strongly recommend EVERYONE to go to the next workshop! IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME AND MONEY!

We had offered many financial aid information workshops to our students, which were great successes. We have scheduled many more workshops for the upcoming months. These include, Graduate School Planning, E-Portfolios, Resume Writing, and Dressing for Success (Interviewing skills). We are looking forward to each one being successfully attended. Also, our students anxious for fall registration, which starts in a few weeks!

Two of our students were accepted to the Westminster McNair Scholars Program for this summer. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Karla Motta, a SSS student and former UB UOFU student was selected for the TRiO 2004 European Study Program: “Shared Journeys: Identity, Heritage, and Empowerment,” sponsored by The Council for Opportunity in Education and the University of LiverPool. She is extremely excited for this opportunity and is actively raising money. If anyone has any suggestions or contacts how she can earn more money she will be more than willing to try it out. (You can contact our office if you have any suggestions for her.)

There have been a lot of things happening in UB this month. First, we have moved our Saturday tutoring to the Business building. Now, we have access to about fifty computers! The students are really pleased with the change. Our seniors are completing the admissions and scholarship process. Good luck to them! The juniors have been in ACT Prep and are almost ready to take the test in April. A number of our students this month went to the Food Bank and helped sort food. And finally, we have been planning for the summer program and are excited about the many changes that we are implementing this summer. We have posted the job listings for summer staff and have received many applications.