“TRIO: Looking Ahead to the Future While Honoring the Past”

1. “TRIO: Looking Ahead to the Future While Honoring the Past” Presenters: Michelle A. Danvers Foust Lalla Edwards

2. Presenters: Michelle A. Danvers Foust, Chair, Council for Opportunity in Education Lalla Edwards, Past President, Association for Equality and Excellence in Education This workshop will examine the role that the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) played in bringing together the TRIO community to advance its mission to “Achieve college access and success for low-income students, first-generation students, and students with disabilities”. The workshop will further explore the importance of building partnerships established throughout the years with similar type organizations to form a strong block of educational programs united for a common cause. Key strategies will be discussed to establish strong institutional membership and alumni engagement in the states, regions and on the national level. Harnessing the power of the TRIO community and our Alumni will provide powerful advocacy for our programs and honor the legacy of TRIO program nationwide. This work begins on the state and regional levels and strategies to engage alumni will be discussed. As we look ahead to the future, we must begin to connect and work with past TRIO participants whose successes and accomplishments prove that TRIO does indeed work!

3. COUNCIL FOR OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION

4. Who We Are The Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) is a nonprofit organization, established in 1981, dedicated to furthering the expansion of college opportunities for low-income, first-generation students, veterans and students with disabilities in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Its membership includes more than 1,000 colleges and agencies. Through its numerous membership services, the Council works in conjunction with colleges, universities, and agencies that host TRIO programs to specifically help low-income students enter college and graduate. An estimated 790,000 low-income students and students with disabilities each year receive college access and retention services through our member colleges and agencies.

5. INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP: BENEFITS • Institutional Membership to the Council for Opportunity in Education is the backbone of the organization. Thanks to strong backing of our members, the Council for Opportunity in Education pursues advocacy, professional development, research, and information that is focused on helping disadvantaged students enroll in and complete postsecondary education.

6. BENEFITS: INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP • Advocacy • Developmental Trainings • On-site • Webinars • On Boarding • Technical Assistance- Competitive Applications • Professional Certifications COLLABORATION WITH SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS • Gear Up • National College Access Network (NCAN) • ADD ADDITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS HERE

7. ADVOCACY: TRIO CAUCUS • The Congressional TRIO Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members of Congress supportive of the Federal TRIO Programs and higher education access for low-income, first-generation, and disabled students. TRIO programs serve students from middle school through post-graduate study across America and provide academic tutoring, personal counseling, mentoring, financial guidance, and other supports necessary for educational access and retention. In addition to providing direct support services for students, TRIO also provides relevant training for directors and staff. • It is the aim of the Caucus to generate support for TRIO programs from congressional offices, the U.S. Department of Education, and other entities and to expand awareness of the need for improving educational opportunities for all Americans.

8. ADVOCACY: TRIO BINGO • COE challenges YOU to play TRIO BINGO! • invite your Member of Congress to visit your TRIO program. • Create a video showcasing your students  and their work in your programs! • Attend a town hall meeting or meet with your Member of Congress at their local offices.  • Have students write letters or postcards to Members of Congress expressing thanks for their support of TRIO programs! • Contact Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) or Selene Ceja (selene.ceja@coenet.us) by e-mail or phone at (202) 347-7430 for assistance.

10. AFFILIATES: TRIO Regional Associations • Association for Equality and Excellence in Education, Inc. (AEEE) • AEEE works to provide for employees of Federal TRIO Programs in the State of New Jersey and the State of New York and others concerned with providing equal access to education, a forum for collegiality, professional development, and all other activities that pertain to the interests and well-being of their programs and students. • (New York, New Jersey) • ASPIRE, Inc. (ASPIRE) • ASPIRE, Inc.’s mission is to increase the educational and success opportunities for low-income and first-generation college students though advocacy, professional development, and legislative awareness (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming).

11. TRIO Regional Associations Caribbean Association of Educational Opportunity Programs (CAEOP) • The Caribbean Association of Educational Opportunity Programs is committed to the development and excellence of the TRIO programs. CAEOP promotes access, retention and opportunity for disadvantaged and minority youth in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. • Educational Opportunity Association (EOA) • The Educational Opportunity Association is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit consortium of professionals with the specific purpose of leveling the playing field of educational opportunity for first-generation, low-income, and disabled students. EOA is the representative professional body for colleges, universities and agencies that host federally-funded TRIO educational opportunity programs within 10 states in the great Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin).

12. TRIO Regional Associations • Mideastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MEAEOPP) • The mission of the Mid-Eastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MEAEOPP) is to assist low-income, first-generation and traditionally under represented students in overcoming the economic, physical, academic and social barriers that make accessibility to higher education difficult, if not impossible. This regional association is comprised of educational opportunity personnel from Delaware, the District of Columbia,Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. • Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Programs (NAEOP) • The Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Programs promotes the development, improvement, and extension of education to non-traditional individuals. NAEOP represents professional educators who work with low-income, first-generation, and disabled students throughout the Northwest (Alaska, Idaho,Oregon, and Washington)

13. TRIO Regional Associations • New England Educational Opportunity Association (NEOA) • The New England Educational Opportunity Association, or NEOA, is an organization of professionals who are actively interested in insuring equal educational opportunities in higher education. Founded in 1972, NEOA has membership of more than 300 educators throughout the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine,Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont). • Southwest Association of Student Assistance Programs (SWASAP) • The purpose of SWASAP is to provide support, training, and encouragement to TRIO professionals within the states 0fArkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in an effort to strengthen their endeavor to serve the national and regional needs of the targeted population.

14. TRIO Regional Associations • Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (SAEOPP) • The Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel is an eight-state southeast regional association (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) dedicated to the professional development and support of TRIO professionals and to the advocacy of the TRIO Movement. • Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel (WESTOP) • The Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel is one of 10 regional associations dedicated to furthering educational opportunities for low-income, first-generation and disabled students. WESTOP consists of six chapters — Arizona, Central California (CenCal), Nevada, Northern California (NorCal), Pacific Islands (PIC) and Southern California (SoCal).

15. PARTNERS • COE has built strategic alliances with businesses and foundations dedicated to expanding educational opportunity. Through strategic collaborations, we work to strengthen quality, opportunity and access to education for all American students - the next generation of global leaders.

16. PARTNERSHIP MODELS Current COE Partnership Models • Providing district-wide college access services with the GE Foundation and the Erie Public Schools; • Conducting the research necessary to develop a city-wide program to improve college access and success with the Denver Scholarship Foundation and the Piton Foundation; • Coordinating and enhancing state-wide college access services with the Lumina Foundation for Education; and • Providing broader dissemination of targeted curricula to encourage low-income and minority students to prepare for careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with the National Institutes of Health.

18. INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP • Institutional Membership to the Council for Opportunity in Education is the backbone of the organization. Thanks to strong backing of our members, the Council for Opportunity in Education pursues advocacy, professional development, research, and information that is all focused on helping disadvantaged students enroll in and complete postsecondary education. • Membership cost is based on the number of TRIO programs at an institution.

19. INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP (Cont.) • Members receive COE's Subscription Package which includes: COE NETworks, Equality (a quarterly newsletter), e-News You Can Use, FAQs, and the National Directory of TRIO and GEAR UP Programs.

20. INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP (Cont.) JUSTIFICATION: Allowable Cost: • OMB Allowable Cost Circular Contact: • Alvin Phillips alvin.phillips@coenet.usor ; • Jesse Baker jesse.baker@coenet.us • Phone: (202) 347-7430

21. COE 2015 HIGHLIGHTS • COE welcomed 1,400+ attendees to the 2015 COE Annual Conference, the first to be held in Atlanta, GA, where the 50th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act was celebrated. • COE fought for and secured a $60 million appropriation increase for the Federal TRIO program. This legislation represented a 7.2% funding increase for TRIO programs.

22. 2015 HIGHLIGHTS (Cont.) • In addition, the “Power of Story” was infused across a variety of activities. TRIO 2015 Video Contest winners and StoryCorp professionals shared the process they used in crafting oral histories at the Annual Conference. TRIO students and alumni also engaged in StoryCorps interviews which inspired our Voices of TRIO. • COE widely celebrated the Talent Search 50th Anniversary. Special events included Alumni receptions in the cities of Chicago and Atlanta and Saturday STEM Fairs.

23. 2015 HIGHLIGHTS (Cont.) • STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONGRESS • COE held the 26th Annual Student Leadership Congress at Georgetown University. This year’s event brought 160 students. • THE PELL INSTITUTE The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the Penn Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (Penn AHEAD) released the 2015 Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States at a National Press Club “shared dialogue” event. The report was picked up by the Associated Press and published in hundreds of prestigious newspapers and journals across the U.S. and Europe.

24. 2015 HIGHLIGHTS (Cont.) • GO COLLEGE PROGRAM Using “lessons learned” to inspire more robust delivery models for college access, COE published Lessons from the GO College Program, College Access Programs at Low-Performing Priority High Schools: A Principal’s Perspective by Keith Look. GO College continues as an on-going and institutionally supported program in both Erie, PA and Stamford, CT. • KEITH SHERIN GLOBAL LEADERS PROGRAM COE also conducted its 16th annual study abroad program for low-income, first-generation students at the University of Salamanca, Spain, as part of the Keith Sherin Global Leaders Program.

25. ALUMNI What Is an Alumnus? • It is important for your TRIO Program/institution to decide how it defines an alumnus and to document this to avoid any confusion. • The classic definition of alumnus is a graduate or former student of a specific school, college or university. Different institutions develop their own definitions of what alumnus means • Some restrict the term to graduates. • Others widen the definition to include all former students (even those who failed to finish), retired staff and other associates.

26. Alumni: definition • Simple Definition: someone who was a student at a particular school, college, or university. • How do you define your Alumni? • Graduation requirement? • Program completion? • Grade level? Are middle school graduates (TS) considered Alumni upon completion of the middle school program and middle school? • What about participants who moved out of the target area and never completed your program?

27. Alumni: why is alumni relations important? • Today, alumni relations is an important part of your program's advancement activities for many reasons: • Alumni are your most loyal supporters. • Alumni are fundraising prospects. • Alumni generate invaluable word-of-mouth marketing among their social and professional networks. • By engaging alumni, you program and it’s participants can continue to benefit from their skills and experience.

28. Alumni: why is alumni relations important (cont.) • Alumni are great role models and mentors for current students and are often well placed to offer practical support to students as they start their careers. • Alumni are often in the position to engage the expertise of the institution in their professional lives. • Your alumni are your international ambassadors. They take their knowledge of your programs into their professional and social networks.

29. Alumni: why is alumni relations important (cont.) • Maintaining a positive relationship with your alumni means that the messages they share about your programs/institution will be positive – and current. • If the relationship between your alumni and your institution ends when they leave campus, their knowledge of your activities and your of their achievements will no longer exist and evolve. The messages they will share with people will be out-of-date and could reflect poorly on the progress your programs institutions has since achieved.

30. Alumni: why is alumni relations important (cont.) • Maintaining communication channels with alumni means you can keep them informed of your program’s achievements and make them part of your future, not just its past. • Good alumni relations benefits alumni as well as the TRIO programs and your institutions. If you support and assist your alumni in their professional and personal lives through activities such as the facilitation of social and professional networks, they are likely to be your loyal life-long supporters. Your support may also help your alumni achieve positions of success and influence, which will in turn benefit your TRIO programs and institution as they begin to give back.

31. Alumni: why is alumni relations important (cont.) • Connecting TRIO’s five million alumni in social and professional network environments, will provide connections that may be important to advance in their careers . • Advocacy on behalf of TRIO is the primary focus. The success of our Alumni and their testimonials on the impact that their programs had on their lives is critical in demonstrating that TRIO does indeed work. • All alumni are also important in fundraising efforts for TRIO programs on a local, regional and national level. They are the most likely group to give as alumni should have a sense of gratitude and want their TRIO programs to succeed.

32. OUTREACH: OFFLINE • Press release: send out monthly press releases to city, state and regional agencies and media outlets. • Events: hold TRIO Alumni events on your campus, community agency/organization, regional and state conferences. • Business cards: disseminate in the target areas. • Postcards/ flyers: disseminate in target locations • Networking: provide a forum for networking opportunities.

33. OUTREACH: ONLINE • Facebook: alumni pages • Twitter: Using a hashtag(#) • Instagram • TRIO Website: institution based; independent • TRIO Blogs • E-Newsletters • Provide links: to all sites for easy access.

34. ON-LINE REGISTRATION • Event Announcements • Volunteer Opportunities • Polls

35. ALUMNI OUTREACH: keeping alumni involved • Alumni Activities Planning: -Invitations to program activities is great, however it is important to create social networking events specifically for alumni, which will attract more of them back to the chapter/association. It may be significant to begin annual activities that alumni knows about and look forward to attending ( ie.: homecoming events, ski trips, alumni gala, weekend retreats, etc.) • Responsibilities of Chapter Alumni: -The main focus of your alumni association/chapter is to keep alumni informed of local chapter information such as new member developments and significant changes. -Even alumni who move out of the area would like to remain involved with their home chapter and TRIO program. Alumni should also be notified of all upcoming events, receive invitations to banquets, homecomings and all program activities.

36. ALUMNI OUTREACH (Cont.) • Alumni fundraiser -Your Alumni are a great resource to fundraise for the chapter. Resources are required for the implementation and planning of chapter/association activities. -Encourage alumni to donate funds; participate in fundraising efforts; being as creative as possible. It is important to know what you are fundraising for and to not just send out letters asking for money. • Communications with Alumni -Communication with your alumni must be diverse and in many different forms. Examples are: e-mail blasts, personal phone calls, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The creation of a webpage is also key with links to the page from all correspondence to members.

37. ALUMNI OUTREACH (Cont.) • Responsibilities of the Alumni Officers -The person in charge of Alumni Outreach (Professional Staff/Alumni Ambassador) should be professional and have great communication skills because they will be representing the chapter/association to all alumni. • Database Updates -It is important that the chapter/association keep updated contact information on their membership. You can reach out to alumni via social media and e-mail, telephone and postcards for updated information.

38. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION • Purpose: to promote the general welfare of your TRIO organization and foster a spirit of loyalty and giving back. • Initial Requirements: • the willingness and motivation of several individuals who are dedicated to take on the program’s initiative and sustain it. • The interest of a group of alumni and friends of the program to participate in the association’s activities.

39. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (Cont.) • Formal or Informal? • Formal: can include officers, objectives, and a constitution. • Informal: one person is selected as the key point person and several others are identified who will assist them. The point person will be in contact with the TRIO program and responsible for circulating event details and organization news to alumni.

40. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (Cont.) • Who should take on the leadership role of the Alumni Association? Alumni willing to: • Contribute time; • work with your TRIO Program; • motivate and engage alumni. • Alumni Ambassadors • Networking • Development Fundraising • Sharing Information

41. Creating an Alumni Association • Step 1: Form an Interest Group • Meet informally with alums to obtain names and contact information and input in a database. • If applicable, use the existing alumni organization or contact information to obtain current and updated information. • Telephone and personally meet with Alums. • Ask for their participation and commitment in starting the association.

42. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Step 2: First Communication • The identified leader should be introduced to alumni in a formal letter, requesting that they update their contact information and queried on whether they would be interested in volunteering their services for the committee. • Write a letter (electronic) to the alumni who responded positively to volunteering their services to the committee, with a google poll to determine an initial meeting date.

43. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) Step 3: Getting Organized • Convene a meeting to agree on the Association’s objectives and form a committee.

44. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Agenda should include: • Introductions; • goals of the Alumni Association; • function of the Alumni Association: advocacy, mentoring, fundraising; scholarships, fellowships; networking , etc.; • Identify short term and long term needs; • Determine areas of interest, capabilities and skill set; • Nomination and election of alumni officers; • Appoint committee to create by-laws and organizational structure; • Set date and time for follow-up meeting (s)

45. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Step 4: Prepare By-Laws • Sample Outline: • Objectives • Membership • Officers – duties and powers • Regular committees duties and functions • Meeting time and programming • Dues • Scholarships – controls and operation • Types of communication – content and timing. • Major activities and projects

46. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Step 5: Follow-up Meeting or Event • A launch event should be organized with a broad appeal to attract as many alumni as possible and a senior member of the TRIO administration should be present. • Alumni who could not attend the initial organizational meeting should be invited to attend this meeting. • The by-laws should be adopted at this meeting and all chapter officers should be in attendance.

47. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Step 6: Financing an Alumni Association • Sources of Financing: • Annual dues • Fundraising • Communications: social network (E-newsletters; e-mail blasts; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). • A website is an excellent tool to inform alumni about news and current events and educating them on important way to advocate on behalf of the TRIO community. • A website must be effectively managed by regularly updating with new and current information. It must also be engaging and informative with accurate information • The website must be user friendly and easy to navigate. • It should also be visually appealing and give alumni an reason for visiting the site.

48. Creating an Alumni Association (Cont.) • Recordkeeping: maintain a living database of alumni names, addresses, contact details, etc. • Events: association meetings; monthly activities;

49. ALUMNI EVENTS • Annual Alumni Gala • Career Day • Mentoring Programs • Scholarship Programs • Award ceremonies • Commencement Events • Regional Policy Seminars • Receptions at Professional Conferences • Invitation to Major Program Activities • Legislative Visits (Federal/State)

50. LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY • Legislative advocacy promotes the value of the TRIO programs to elected officials. Testimonials provided by alumni who have successfully earned their postsecondary, advanced and professional degrees are critical in demonstrating the success of the TRIO programs. • Legislators want to hear from your alumni! It is therefore critical that we provide them with an advocacy toolkit provided by COE and which is located on the Alumni Communities of Practice site, the TRIO LinkedIn, and the Alumni Facebook site.