From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
TRIO SES celebrates 50 years of student support at KU
LAWRENCE — On May 2, TRIO Supportive Educational Services will celebrate 50 years of continuous federal funding at the University of Kansas. The reception from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom is a celebration of both the end of the semester as well as decades of student success and achievement. TRIO SES is a student support service program that provides first-generation, low-income and disabled students with comprehensive and personalized support during their time at KU.
KU announces new 2023-2027 Self Graduate Fellows
LAWRENCE — Fifteen doctoral students have been selected to receive the University of Kansas’ Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship for the 2023-2024 academic year. The total value of each prestigious four-year doctoral fellowship exceeds $200,000. Kansas recipients include scholars from Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park, Shawnee and Wichita. Missouri recipients include scholars from Fulton, Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and Lone Jack.
School of Music announces new director of orchestral activities
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Music has announced the appointment of KU alumnus Creston Herron as its new director of orchestral activities. Herron, director of fine arts for the Klein Independent School District and conductor of Rice University’s Campanile Orchestra in Texas, will join the School of Music in fall 2023.
Full stories below.
————————————————————————
Contact: Alicia Marksberry, Achievement & Assessment Institute, [email protected], @AAI_at_KU
TRIO SES celebrates 50 years of student support at KU
LAWRENCE — On May 2, TRIO Supportive Educational Services (TRIO SES) will celebrate 50 years of continuous federal funding at the University of Kansas. Taking place from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Kansas Union Ballroom, the reception is a chance to celebrate both the end of the semester and decades of student success and achievement. TRIO SES is a student support service program that provides first-generation, low-income and disabled students with comprehensive and personalized support during their time at KU. Over the last half-century, TRIO SES has built a robust community and team dedicated to student success.
“This celebration is about the students. We want to recognize their achievements, tenacity and success,” said TRIO SES director Gretchen Heasty. “That is central to what we do here.”
TRIO SES is part of a national network of TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The USDE currently funds 1,162 SSS projects, serving more than 209,200 college students. Although federal TRIO SSS programs have existed in the United States since the authorization of the Higher Education Amendments in 1968, TRIO SES didn’t become KU’s first TRIO program until 1973.
At KU, the effort to recruit and support low-income and minority students was initiated by the Black Student Union in the late 1960s through protests calling for better support and inclusivity. In response, councils and departments across campus founded the SES program and the Office of Minority Affairs as well as created new faculty and staff positions to address inequality at the university.
Fifty years later, TRIO SES continues to provide supports from tutoring and advising to scholarships and study abroad opportunities. Based on a long record of success, KU received a second SSS grant through a competitive national competition in 2015 to expand SES’s reach from 250 students served annually to 370 students. The new funding allowed staff to enhance services for TRIO students majoring in science, technology, engineering, math and health care, and the program is now known at KU as TRIO SES & STEM.
TRIO SES goes beyond advising and financial support. SES staff function like phone operators, connecting students to resources and departments on the campus switchboard to find a solution to the problem. Student success coordinators work as a team to help students with whatever they need, whether it be enrolling in classes, paying a late fee, finding an apartment or job, or obtaining disability accommodations.
“I think everybody in the office believes that whatever the students need, that’s what we’re going to do,” said Julie Hamel, the TRIO SES assistant director for student programming. “When a student comes in the office, they’re not always going to fit under one of the categories of services. We all try to respond in the moment and get students to where they need to go.”
Exceeding student outcomes is required for continued funding through the competitive grant awarding process. During the last 20 years, TRIO SES & STEM students have persisted at KU at a rate of 90% or higher and have a six-year graduation rate between 65% and 70%. For TRIO-eligible students who have disproportionately lower retention rates due to economic, social and other systemic barriers, this commitment to student success is paramount. Emily Costner, a TRIO SES ambassador and scholarship recipient, said that TRIO SES has been instrumental in ensuring her success at KU.
“I think that people like me that meet all three of the TRIO criteria are further behind than many other students. Having that extra support, even if it’s just emotionally there for you, has a huge impact,” Costner said. “To have someone in a place where we all can connect and where we all understand what it’s like is incredible.”
Costner said that because of TRIO SES she was able to find on-campus child care for her son, change her major, pass her classes and save money. For other students like her, TRIO SES isn’t just a resource, it’s a community of people with similar backgrounds that help them feel like they belong at KU.
“Coming to college I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in or meet people who had the same experiences that I had growing up and who are dealing with the same issues as me,” said TRIO student, tutor and ambassador Morgan Weir. “I didn’t realize that this program that helps you find your place in this community existed until I came to KU, and it’s been really great.”
The TRIO ambassador program began this year after being paused during the pandemic as a way for SES students to help reach other students who would benefit from the services. Ten students volunteered this year to join the outreach program.
“I decided to become an ambassador because I got so much help from TRIO my freshman year, and without it, I don’t know where I would have ended up,” SES student Carolina Frausto said.
TRIO SES plans to continue providing innovative programming and services to support TRIO student success at KU and beyond. Recent TRIO initiatives involve reaching out to KU TRIO alumni to build a more intentional network of TRIO Jayhawks, prioritizing strategies to make study abroad and global learning available for KU TRIO students and continuing to be part of KU’s First Forward committee to better serve first-generation college students.
“Over the next 50 years we want to continue to advocate for students on campus and listen to our students about where they want to see us go and where their strengths and gaps are. I think these are the foundational pieces,” Heasty said. “Fifty years from now, SES will continue to hold those foundations of advocacy and individual and personalized support.”
-30-
————————————————————————
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
Tweets by KUnews
————————————————————————
Contact: Daniel Rivera, Self Graduate Fellowship, 785-864-7249, [email protected], @Selfgraduate
KU announces new 2023-2027 Self Graduate Fellows
LAWRENCE — Fifteen doctoral students have been selected to receive the University of Kansas’ prestigious Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship for the 2023-2024 academic year. This incoming group of fellows is the largest cohort in over 20 years. Over 200 students have benefited from the Self Graduate Fellowship since it was established in 1989.
The Self Graduate Fellowship is a four-year package awarded to incoming or first-year doctoral students who demonstrate leadership, initiative and passion for achievement. The fellowship covers full tuition and fees, provides graduate research assistant support of $34,000 per year, a $5,500 professional development award, a $5,000 start-up award, $1,000 textbook and technology awards (years 2-4) and a unique professional development program. The Fellow Development Program provides general education and training in communication, management, innovation, policy and leadership to assist Self Graduate Fellows in preparation for future leadership roles. The role of the development program is to complement the specialized education and training provided in doctoral programs. The total value of the four-year doctoral fellowship exceeds $200,000.
The fellowship’s mission is to identify and recruit exceptional doctoral students who demonstrate the promise to make significant contributions to their fields and society as a whole.
The late Madison “Al” and Lila Self launched and permanently endowed the Self Graduate Fellowship in 1989, motivated by their strong belief in the vital importance of developing leadership for tomorrow. Madison Self was a 1943 KU graduate in chemical engineering. Lila Self attended KU with the Class of 1943.
The new Self Graduate Fellows for the 2023-2027 cohort:
1. Elizabeth Bartlett, of Eagan, Minnesota: bachelor’s degree in chemistry and minor in computer science from the College of Saint Benedict; first-year doctoral student in chemistry
2. Megan Carlson, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri: expected bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from KU; incoming doctoral student in aerospace engineering
3. Emily Daniel, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri: bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and applied critical thought and inquiry from William Jewell College; first-year doctoral student in the interdisciplinary graduate program in biomedical sciences, KU Medical Center
4. Gentry Totta-Griese, of Fulton, Missouri: bachelor’s degree in chemistry and bachelor’s degree in biology from MidAmerica Nazarene University; first-year doctoral student in the interdisciplinary graduate program in biomedical sciences, KU Medical Center
5. William Hauser, of Shawnee: bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience from KU; first-year doctoral student in the interdisciplinary graduate program in biomedical sciences, KU Medical Center
6. Lana Heslop, of Greer, South Carolina: bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory sciences from the University of Kentucky; first-year doctoral student in the interdisciplinary graduate program in biomedical sciences, KU Medical Center
7. Carrie Lewis-Merritt, of Kansas City, Missouri: bachelor’s degree in environmental science and minor in mathematics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, master’s degree in atmospheric science from KU; first-year doctoral student in atmospheric science
8. Ashley Lieber, of Wichita: bachelor’s degree in physics and minor in math and STEM education from the University of Arkansas; first-year doctoral student in physics & astronomy
9. Natalie Lind, of Longmont, Colorado: expected bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Fort Lewis College; incoming doctoral student in chemistry
10. Curtis McLennan, of Palatine, Illinois: expected bachelor’s degree in physics and expected bachelor’s in applied mathematics from Wheaton College; incoming doctoral student in physics & astronomy
11. Daniel Mongovin, of Olympia, Washington: bachelor’s degree in geology from Central Washington University and master’s degree in geology from KU; first-year doctoral student in geology
12. Jessica Pfannenstiel, of Lone Jack, Missouri: bachelor’s degree in microbiology from KU; first-year doctoral student in microbiology
13. Yezan Salamoun, of Overland Park: expected bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical studies from KU; incoming doctoral student in pharmaceutical chemistry
14. Sophia Terian, of Lenexa: expected bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from KU; incoming doctoral student in environmental and water resources engineering
15. Bailey Thompson, of Olathe: bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s degree in accounting from KU; incoming doctoral student in accounting.
-30-
————————————————————————
Subscribe to KU Today, the campus newsletter,
for additional news about the University of Kansas.
http://www.news.ku.edu
————————————————————————
Contact: Fally Afani, School of Music, [email protected], @MusicKU
School of Music announces new director of orchestral activities
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Music has announced the appointment of Creston Herron as its new director of orchestral activities. Herron, a highly respected conductor and educator, will join the School of Music in fall 2023.
Herron is currently the director of fine arts for the Klein Independent School District and the conductor of Rice University’s Campanile Orchestra in Texas. He is also the former director of orchestras at Klein High School and the former director of strings for the Yes Prep Public Schools. With a career spanning over two decades, Herron has conducted regional and all-state ensembles in several states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New Mexico, South Carolina and Texas.
“We are thrilled to welcome Creston Herron to the University of Kansas School of Music,” said Paul Popiel, interim dean of the School of Music. “His extensive experience as a conductor, educator and musician will be invaluable in leading our orchestral program and inspiring the next generation of musicians.”
As a dedicated pedagogue, Herron said he is passionate about working with young performers and future educators. He has presented master classes and guest lectures at several institutions, including Rice University, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and The Midwest Clinic. He also provides professional development workshops to educators locally and nationally. In addition to his work as an educator, Herron is an accomplished violinist and has performed with various symphonies, including the Houston Latin Philharmonic and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
“I cannot express how thrilled I am to join the University of Kansas faculty and be a part of the institution that helped develop me into the musician that I am today,” Herron said. “This is more than just a job opportunity for me. It’s a homecoming. I look forward to sharing the same passion instilled in me many years ago with the current and future students of this incredible university.”
Herron received his Bachelor of Music in Music Performance from KU, his Master of Music from Rice University, Shepherd School of Music in Houston, where he received his scholarship as a Provost Fellow and a Brown Scholar, and recently received a Master of Education in school leadership from Sam Houston State University.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
