ANC TRiO Goes to Washington

Pictured L to R: Tonya Harris, ANC Director of TRiO Educational Opportunity Center and Educational Talent Search and Brooke Siegler, ETS Advisor, meet in Washington DC to promote the importance of the TRiO programs.

March 12-14, 2018 Arkansas Northeastern College TRIO personnel Tonya Harris, Director ETS/EOC, and Brooke Siegler, ETS Education Advisor, attended the 34^th Annual Seminar on Relations with the U.S. Department of Education (DOED) and the 38^th Annual Policy Seminar with the Council for Opportunity in Education.

On March 12, the DOED Seminar provided informative sessions, panel discussions, and guest speakers from the DOED sessions included meetings with DOED Program Officers, an Insider’s View of the U.S. DOED, Using Data to Improve TRIO Programs, and Creating Policy and Procedure Manuals.  The highlight of the seminar was an update from Linda Byrd-Johnson, Senior Director Student Service U.S. DOED.

TRIO programs were established in the 1960s during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. TRIO is a set of seven federally-funded college opportunity programs that motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their pursuit of a college degree. These programs serve 24,000 students in Arkansas and nearly 800,000 nationwide.

The initial budget proposal to congress put the TRiO programs at risk for elimination. On March 14, TRIO students, alumni, and professionals from all across the country headed to the Capitol to advocate for continued funding of these student focused TRIO service programs. Tonya Harris and Brooke Siegler joined the Arkansas TRIO delegation in Washington and met with all six Congressional offices to discuss concerns with the changes to program funding and shared student stories.

On March 23, President Trump signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations bill into law. This bill guarantees a $60 million funding increase for TRIO programs for a total appropriation of $1.01 billion – the highest funding in the history of TRIO.

Arkansas Northeastern College (ANC) is home to three TRIO programs that collectively serve a total of 2,340 students and adults. These three programs are: Educational Talent Search, Educational Opportunity Centers, and Student Support Services.  Educational Talent Search (ETS) is a pre-college program that provides academic, career, and financial counseling to its participants, grades 6-12, and encourages them to graduate from high school and to continue on and complete their postsecondary education.  The ANC ETS program serves 14 school districts in Mississippi and Poinsett Counties in Arkansas and Pemiscot County in Missouri. The Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) program provides counseling and information on college admissions, financial aid, and financial literacy to qualified adult who want to enter or continue their postsecondary education. The ANC EOC program serves adults in Mississippi, Greene, and Poinsett Counties in Arkansas and Dunklin and Pemiscot Counties in Missouri. Student Support Services (SSS) provides opportunities to academic development, assist students with basic college requirement, and motivates students to complete their postsecondary education. The ANC SSS program provides services to students who are enrolled at Arkansas Northeastern College.

Brooke Siegler noted that “It is always interesting working with a new Administration, because you have to figure out where you fit in as a priority for them. These meetings were a great way to raise awareness for TRIO and the great things this program does for our students. We actually brought our Arkansas 2018 annual report to our meetings, so we were able to show each Congressman how many students are served and how much money TRIO brings to their district. We are lucky to have representatives in Washington that see the value in and support these TRIO programs.”