DSU’s TRiO Student Support Services Receives $1.5M Grant

Thursday, July 23rd, 2015 The Dixie State University TRiO Student Support Services program recently received a $1.5 million federal grant that will make it possible for the program to continue serving students for the next five years. The program, which has been on the Dixie State campus since the early 1980s, offers assistance to students who are the first in their families to attend college, have low incomes or have documented disabilities. Student Support Services helps these students successfully earn associate degrees. Student Support Services provides participating students free ongoing assistance, helping them grow personally, socially and academically. The program teaches student participants self-direction, resourcefulness and resiliency through one-on-one advising focused on academic skill development and personal enrichment. Through their involvement in the program, participants become successful students and college graduates who are prepared to be hired as competent professionals. Advisors meet with students every semester to assess and develop educational plans, review academic progress and provide academic and moral support. They also arrange academic tutoring and work with Dixie State's Financial Aid Office to ensure participants have been offered sufficient aid. The grant will provide funding for Student Support Services to assist 200 students each year. Jonathan Morrell, who has been the director of the program since 1997, applied for the grant in January and learned last week that Dixie would receive on of the highly sought-after grants. Applications are scored on a scale from 1 to 100 and in order to receive a new grant, schools had to score 106, meaning institutions had to go above and beyond the set criteria and score extra points in order to receive funding. For more information about TRiO Student Support Services, visit utahtech.edu/trio/index.php.