TRIO welcome back social connects students with support services

NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s TRIO Student Support Services welcomed students back for the fall semester Thursday, Sept. 3, with a social designed to connect students with the program, its staff and resources available throughout the academic year.

The Welcome Back and New Participant Social was held in the President’s Room of the Student Union and was open to all NSU students. The event included refreshments, games and opportunities for returning participants and students interested in TRIO to meet staff and learn more about the program.

“We want the welcome back and new participant mixer to serve as a welcoming for the new participants and it also allows our new participants to get to know some of our returning participants,” said Vashaun South, assistant director of TRIO Student Support Services. “So, it’s almost like they form friendships without even trying.”

TRIO Student Support Services works with first-generation college students, students from modest-income backgrounds and students with disabilities, with a goal of helping participants progress toward earning a college degree.

“My role here is to make sure that our students know that they are not alone, they have a whole team of people behind them that are rooting them on and want to make sure that they are successful,” South said.

South said TRIO serves as an additional layer of support for eligible students as they navigate college.

“We are a one-stop shop for these students,” South said. “We help them with things from financial aid to advising to registering for classes, just an added layer of support.”

Services available through TRIO include academic counseling and advising, academic resources, career counseling, academic enrichment trips, financial literacy education, FAFSA application assistance, graduate school admissions assistance, grants, study skills courses, the TRIOFit Health Initiative and tutoring. Staff members also assist students with appeals related to financial aid and enrollment.

Tutoring is available for core classes and most upper-level courses. TRIO also provides students with academic resources including calculators, laptops and Scantrons.

Marissa Howard, a senior social work major from Melville, is a participant in TRIO Student Support Services.

“The welcome back and new participant mixer is one of the most important events because we are reconnecting with everyone, but also we are getting to meet new faces,” Howard said.

The welcome back event also gave new and returning students an opportunity to meet one another and build connections at the beginning of the semester.

“I’m coming back from a long break, I haven’t seen my friends and my classmates, and the welcome back social was always where we would laugh with them, learn with them,” Howard said. “We play games, we eat food, we have music playing. It’s just all fun. It’s fun to reconnect with the people that you love and the people that you cherish once you come to NSU.”

Students can learn more about eligibility, services and ways to get involved through TRIO Student Support Services at www.nsula.edu/student-resources/trio-student-support-services.