Welcome Our New Staff TRiO Student Support ... - Gaston College

January/February 2011TRiO Student Support ServicesIn January, Gaston College welcomed thenew staff for the TRIO/Student Support Services(SSS) program. TRIO/SSS is a federallyfundedgrant program designed to improveretention, graduation, and transfer ratesthrough intensive and intrusive academic,career, and personal counseling. The TRIO/SSS Office will provide 140 Gaston students with access to a “One-Stop Center” wherethey will receive individualized services such as:• Academic advising• Tutoring• Supplemental instruction• Mentoring• Transfer planning• Financial literacy education• Cultural enrichment activitiesThe TRIO/SSS program is currently recruiting eligible students. To be considered for the Program,students must demonstrate academic need and must meet a minimum of oneof the following criteria:• Low-income as defined by the Department of Education• First generation college student• Have a documented disabilityThe TRIO/SSS program offers tremendous benefits for students including:• Individualized attention (1:70 counselor to student ratio)• Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction• Priority registration• Tuition reimbursement for ACA122• Assistance with applying for financial aid and scholarships• College tours• Cultural enrichment activities• Benchmark rewards for the bookstore and cafeteria• Access to computers and lounge exclusive to TRIO/SSS participantsFaculty and staff are encouraged to invite TRIO/SSS staff to make 10-15 minute presentationsabout the program during classes or student organization meetings, and/or to referstudents to the TRIO/SSS program using the Faculty/Staff Referral on the last page of thisnewsletter. Please contact Renee Zullo, Project Coordinator, at zullo.renee@gaston.eduor (704)922-2362 for more information.Many Thanks to You!Your time and effort to help your students does not go unrecognized. The Office ofPersistence and Retention would like to thank all the instructors, coordinators, and advisorsthat helped launch this retention effort! Please continue to make a difference instudents’ lives by completing the SPSPs.Welcome OurNew StaffJoy Armour is the newP&R Secretary and isan integral member ofour team. She providessupport to the Directorand other membersof the Department. Shewill graduate from GC inMay with an Associate’sDegree in Medical OfficeAdministration and OfficeSystems Technology.Renee Zullo joined StudentServices on January3, 2011, as Coordinatorfor our TRIO Program. Shehas served as Director ofTutoring and Services forStudents with Disabilitiesat Siena College in Loudonville,New York whereshe provided support servicesto students. She hasa Masters in EducationalPsychology and Statistics.continued page 2>>>Gaston CollegeOpportunities For Lifewww.gaston.edu

Welcomecontinued from page 1>>>Kelley Bellin joined StudentServices on January3, 2011, as Advisorfor our TRIO Program. Shehas served as LearningSpecialist at the Universityof Michigan whereshe provided individualinstruction and support tostudents. She has a Mastersin Social Work and aMasters in Education.Christian Smith joinedStudent Services on December1, 2010, as theAdministrative Assistantfor the Trio Program. Shehas two years of clericaland secretarial experienceand worked for sixmonths in the office ofPersistence and Retention.She has an AAS inMedical Office Administrationfrom Gaston College.Title III Students Continue to PersistAs part of Title III Grant Objectives, we monitor persistence of Title III students to subsequentsemesters. Student persistence is defined as the percentages of At-Risk (financialaid recipient) and Highly At-Risk (financial aid recipient and enrolled in at least onedevelopmental course) students registered for the next semester. Our first semesterof administering Title III Interventions to students in selected ACA course sections wasSpring 2010. This group has continued to grow by adding more students from selectedSummer and Fall 2010 ACA course sections. For the Spring, Summer, and Fall 2010group, 71% At-Risk and 70% Highly At-Risk Title III students registered for Spring 2011after the Drop/Add period. We will continue to monitor persistence of this group duringthis semester and beyond.ACA Students Registered/Not Registered for Spring 2011Spring/Summer/Fall 2010 StudentsRegistered Not RegisteredTitle III StudentsAt-Risk 163 71.2% 66 28.8%Highly At-Risk 160 70.2% 68 29.8%Not At-Risk 122 60.4% 80 39.6%Non-Title III Students 563 69.4% 231 29.1%Total Students 1008 70.9% 445 30.6%As of 01-20-2011 (After Drop/Add period)Preventing and Responding to Disruptive StudentsIn and Out of the ClassroomOver 100 faculty and staff attended four Title III-sponsored presentationson preventing and responding to disruptive students byScott Lewis on January 27, 2011.Mr. Lewis addressed recent increases in the number and severityof behavioral incidents in classrooms and on college campuses.He emphasized that, more and more, it is incumbent upon instructorsto intervene in the classroom to address behaviors thatcan interfere with teaching and learning. Using a combination oflecture and case studies taken from actual incidents, the workshopsprovided attendees with tools to appropriately address varioustypes of disruptive behaviors. Participants were provided withskills to prevent disruptive behaviors, react to them, and enhance their own campusand classroom conduct procedures.Additional sessions focused on initiating dialogue on the basics of forming a BehavioralIntervention Team (BIT) including current strategies, best practices, and a look to futureestablishment. The day ended with an open discussion on legal and risk managementissues for Student Services staff during an informal Q&A session.Evaluations were collected from a total of 95 respondents. Faculty and staff membershad the opportunity to attend multiple sessions so they may have evaluated more thanone session. The most attended session of the day was the second “Classroom Management”session in the afternoon (56%).2Results indicate that most respondents were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the professionaldevelopment activity. We received average satisfaction scores by evaluatedaspect for each session.

Helping Our Students to Achieve Success!The Student Persistence and Success Plan (SPSP) is the result of the Persistence andRetention Committee’s work and effort to improve student persistence. Because ofthe number of students that withdraw from your classes during the semester, it wasnecessary that Gaston College put a plan in place that will help those unprepared students(academically, first generation, adult learner, millennial students, etc.) and thosestudents that are experiencing economic hardships, health issues, misperceptions, orproblematic situations succeed in their educational plan and goals. SPSP gives instructorsthe opportunity to design interventions based on the issues that surface and thenmonitor them through the plan. Taking a few extra minutes can make all the differencewhen it comes to retention and student success!Persistence &RetentionWanda WyontDirector P&RJoy ArmourSecretary P&RTitle IIIDr. Kim Van WieCoordinatorAdele EarlsCounselorTanisha WilliamsCounselorDr. Mary GunnData AnalystTRiORenee ZulloCoordinatorKelley BellinAdvisorChristian SmithAdmin. AssistantACASherry SharpeFull Time InstructorRandy KincaidFull Time InstructorACA Part Time InstructorsSPSPSherry SharpeFaculty AdvisorFall 2010 SPSP UpdateLast semester,SPSP waslaunched campus-wideandit was a BIGsuccess. Eachdivision was assigneda coordinatorto helpsupport instructorsin the processand theat-risk studentswith GastonCollege andcommunity resources.Therewere 503 planssubmitted last semester. Because of the positive feedback from instructors, we arehoping to exceed that number this semester.The following individualsindirectly report to ourDepartment regarding theStudent Persistence & SuccessPlanCherry DealDevelopmentalDr. Lidia AtkinsArts and SciencesDr. Janet ArthursHealth PromotionsDonna LoveBusinessJayne RossEngineering3