Project Success: Over 400 students helped and counting
By Jamie Lemmer
Project Success has provided assistance to over 400 students since it was first introduced to the campus in the fall of 1997.
The program has grown from 90 participants in its first semester to over 150 this semester.
Director Marty Hungerford said, "Our program is designed to serve 150 students per semester. However, this semester, we have slightly over that number without reducing services or effectiveness."
The services offered by the project include:
Priority registration
Personal attention and support
Academic advising
Transfer assistance
Cultural enrichment/ leadership training
Workshops and support groups
Limited scholarships
Financial aid application assistance
Priority registration, and academic / personal counseling are the most important services, according to a survey of the Project Success participants.
The biggest misconceptions about the program, according to Hungerford, are that Project Success is a financial aid program and that participants have to be poor or have low grades.
"Although we do provide limited financial assistance to our program participants, we are not financial aid," Hungerford said.
On the issue of students being poor or having low grades, she said "We have students in a wide range of annual income levels, and our students have GPA’s ranging from below 1.0 to 4.0. We are not just for students taking developmental classes or those with academic problems."
To become a participant, a student must fall into one of the following criteria: 1. low income, 2. first generation college student (if neither parent received a baccalaureate degree prior to student turning 18). 3. physically or learning disabled.
The best way for someone to see if they qualify is to stop in the office and fill out an application, Hungerford said.
Located in LRC-D, the project staff consists of the director, counselors, Meg Kowalczyk (Ext. 592) Jim Moskalewicz (Ext. 593) and secretary Judy Meling (Ext. 594)
Nerys Bernabei, a Project Success participant for the past three semesters, said, "The counselors, Marty (Hungerford) and Meg (Kowalczyk) have been terrific, and when things get tough, the encouragement has been one of the most helpful things. Last year, I was ready to throw in the towel. Two fellow students and Marty made school more tolerable, not such a heavy load. Made me feel I could do this. Now I’m almost done."
When asked to sum up the program, Hungerford replied, "We’re a lot of fun. We offer a lot of services such as being an advocate for our students, we have a very low counselor to student ratio, which means your counselor is there when you need them, we’re easily accessible in LRC-D, and we help our students bring balance to their life with fun."
Project Success, a part of the TRIO Program, receives a federally funded grant of $194,000 annually. The grant is through Title IV and must be applied for annually. The continuance of the funding relies 15% on prior performance, and 85% on the application process.
TRIO began as three federal programs in 1965: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services. Since 1965, TRIO has grown to include seven federal programs which include, Upward Bound Math Science, Veterans Upward Bound, Educational Opportunity Centers, and Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement programs.
TRIO programs are now offered at over 1,200 colleges, universities and agencies nation wide, and serve nearly 730,000 Americans from low-income families.