Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Dobbins help bring growth the TRIO programs

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Southeast Missouri State University aids hundreds of students with funding to help in their development to be future lawyers, doctors, journalists, etc.

Educational Access, Student Support Services, McNair Scholars Programs, and Learning Assistance Programs all have resources to help Southeast students. For example, these programs offer tutorial services, part-time student worker jobs and foster and develop an academic environment. These learning and educational assistance programs are accessible to everyone on Southeast campus.

Trent Ball, associate dean of students, said that President Kenneth W. Dobbins was one of the main reasons for "100 percent positive growth" in these departments. He also mentioned that Dobbins helped with the development in these particular departments on campus.

"When we first started the process of giving assistance, with the program starting in 1998, there would be a 100 percent increase over the course of 16 years that President Dobbins has been the president. The program made a decision last year to almost double the support and then there is another chunk of support coming next year so where we could work with 35 students and now there is close to 10 students," Ball said.

Dobbins mentioned that Ball helped in the development of the TRIO program as well. He said the scholarships that are received for the department are matched and given to students.

"Trent matches those scholarships that they bring to us which is really important," Dobbins said. "That way we can get more students help especially those who are in financial need so that they can be successful".

Dobbins said he is a first generation college graduate. He emphasized how important that is to him and why the TRIO Program is important.

"The TRIO Program is so important to a lot of first generation college students. I am a first generation college graduate and I have 27 cousins and only one other cousin graduated, but I was the first so this is a special thing for me," Dobbins said. "If you've been to commencement you'll know that I've said where are all first generation college graduates please stand; well that's important to me. TRIO is so important because there is 25 percent to 30 percent first generation students that graduate from college that I see when I'm sitting on stage during commencement."

Diversity has been an important aspect to Dobbins' presidency while at Southeast. He said the TRIO Program has aided in that development as well.

"One of our goals at Southeast is for the student body to look like the diversity of the state of Missouri, which we have accomplished," Dobbins said. "The TRIO Program is part of that and it isn't necessarily all minority students, but there are many minority students in the TRIO Program so that's very important, but also our international programs because we live in a global economy. So when our students leave here they will have already experienced living in a global economy and they will have experienced sitting next to individuals, working with other individuals that aren't like them."

Many people have been positively affected by Dobbins while he has been president including the mentors and faculty over these particular departments.

"President Dobbins has helped more indirectly," Valdis Zalite, director of TRIO/Student Support Services, said. "The thing that sticks out the strongest to me, particularly, to TRIO students and Student Support Services is the fact that he has supported the institutional commitment part of what we've done within the grant because our grant is federally funded, and he has always been a strong supporter of the institutional support that we receive here at Southeast."

Students that have worked under Dobbins and have graduated and took on full time employment at Southeast also had much to say about Dobbins and the positive effect he has had on their lives.

"My role is interesting with Dr. Dobbins. I met him when I first came to Southeast as a student but I also worked with him on the Board of Regents and I was a student representative on the Board of Regents for a few years from 2003-2005," India Jeffery, retention specialist of Academic Support Centers, said. "So what I have learned from him was really basic, but really interesting and that was how to sit in my first formal business meeting with a budget of this size and learn every avenue of the university and how he took time out of his schedule and have one-on-one time with me to make sure I understood exactly what was going on so that allowed me to have a class before engaging in the meeting. I got to learn from him in a private sector."

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