News Archive

WVU Tech Celebrates National TRIO Day

In recognition of National TRIO Day on February 23, WVU Tech is hosting an open house for its two TRIO programs on Wednesday, February 27 from 11am – 3pm in Old Main. Staff and students from the University’s Upward Bound and Student Support Services programs will be available to talk about how these programs help students become academically prepared and motivated to achieve success.

WVU Tech Upward Bound has been serving high school students since 1965 and serves 90 students from Fayette, Clay and eastern Kanawha counties annually. “Upward Bound has helped me with college – I really understood what to expect. The program helped me to understand how much time I would need to spend studying in college and what the college environment would be like,” said Christopher Merritt, 2011 Oak Hill High School graduate and computer engineering sophomore at WVU Tech.

Student Support Services (SSS) has been serving college students since 1968 and serves 215 students on the WVU Tech campus. Casey Orndorff, WVU Tech senior math major from High View, W.Va., explained, “Student Support Services has helped me in ways both in and out of academia. While in SSS, I have been a student tutor for seven semesters. This has given me first hand experience with interacting with other students while practicing teaching, which is going to look awesome for applying for a teaching assistant position in graduate school. If it weren’t for SSS, I don’t think I would be nearly as successful, or even have survived my freshman year.”

Patricia Hopkins, SSS director, explained, “We want more people in Montgomery and the surrounding area to know about the services of the TRIO programs.” Upward Bound Director Jennifer Bunner added, “We also want people to know that this program works and should be expanded to serve more students from low-income families across West Virginia.”

Today more than 1,200 colleges, universities, and community agencies host more than 2,800 TRIO projects that serve approximately 790,000 young people and adults. Thirty-five percent (35%) of TRIO students are White, 35% are African-American, 19% are Hispanic, 4% are American Indian, 3% are Asian-American, and 4% are listed as “other,” including multiracial students. Seven thousand TRIO students have disabilities. TRIO services include: assistance in choosing a college; tutoring; personal and financial counseling; career counseling; assistance in applying to college; workplace and college visits; special instruction in reading, writing, study skills, and mathematics; assistance in applying for financial aid; and academic support in high school or assistance to re-enter high school.