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student looking at a page detailing the Trio student support services

TRIO Student Support Services

Guiding TRIO Students, From Orientation to Graduation

TRIO SSS offers an array of academic support to eligible students. All services are free of charge and available for the duration of each student's college career. Currently, TRIO has 3 academic advisors: Ben Hamman, Janet Zupan, and Peter Donaldson.

Because they spend the majority of their time answering an array of academic, financial, and personal questions, TRIO SSS students receive perhaps the highest quality of advising found on the UM campus.

What Makes TRIO Advising So Special?

  • Greater Attention. TRIO serves up to 375 students per grant year, with our advisors serving up to 125 students each. This allows students to build a more personal connection with their TRIO advisor, who can provide more personalized advice and address more individualized needs.
  • Time. TRIO students are not limited to the amount of time they can spend discussing concerns or challenges with an advisor. They can meet with TRIO SSS advisors by appointment, or by walk-in, when available. Many students will meet one-on-one with an advisor several times over the semester until their concerns are satisfactorily answered.
  • Confidentiality. TRIO SSS students can remain secure in the fact that all advising contact is kept in strict confidentiality by all TRIO SSS staff. We believe that in order to truly help a student, that student must feel comfortable to address all of their circumstances.
  • Advocacy and Collaboration Across Offices. Located administratively on Aber's 3rd floor, our close proximity to multiple campus offices allows us to work with both the office and the student in addressing areas of concern, ranging from financial aid, accessing disability accommodations, and more. We are:

Questions that come up during advising

  • To understand what TRIO advisors do, it is helpful to think of why TRIO as a program was created in the first place. 

    TRIO was developed to help historically underrepresented student populations- those being first-generation college students, low-income students, and/or students with disabilities- successfully graduate from a post-secondary institutions with a bachelor's degree.

    A TRIO advisor does this with their students by:

    • Providing supplementary academic advising and academic services every semester
      • Providing free access to in-house TRIO tutors
      • Helping students schedule appointments with on-campus tutoring services, like the Writing Center and the Math Learning Center
      • Writing letters of recommendation
    • Connecting students with other campus resources and offices
    • Helping students navigate the higher education system
      • Registering for classes
      • Creating academic plans and remaining on track to graduate
      • Applying to graduate from UM
      • Clarifying the academic requirements to continue receiving federal financial aid, and helping students continue to meet those requirements
      • Applying to graduate school
    • Helping reduce financial barriers preventing students from successfully graduating
      • Assisting students with filing Financial Aid Appeals
      • Filing FAFSAs with students and answering FAFSA-related questions
      • Providing graduation application fee waivers and renting graduation robes for free to graduating seniors
      • Awarding select in-house TRIO scholarships each academic year
      • Directing students to apply for our in-house Book Loan Program and Technology Loan Program
      • Hosting an open computer lab in Aber Hall, where TRIO students can access 1 of 6 desktops, as well as print for free

    A TRIO advisor can also assist a student with other services or needs not listed. Each student is assessed and served on an individual basis. It is up to the student to continue meeting with their advisor throughout the academic year, so we encourage students to follow through on their advisor meeting every semester, as well as to bring any questions and concerns to their advisors as they occur throughout the year.

  • It’s a good idea to check your Student Profile in Cyberbear to find the name of your current advisor.

    You can do this by logging in to Cyberbear, selecting Student Services, and then selecting Student Profile. You should then see your advisor(s) listed at the bottom of your student profile.

    If you have a declared major, we encourage you to speak with your department advisor in addition to meeting with your TRIO advisor.

    If you are undeclared, pre-comm, pre-psyx, or freshman business, TRIO SSS advisors are ready and willing to meet with you.

  • The finals schedule is designed to avoid this type of conflict, but this happens from time to time.

    First, check the official UM Finals schedule here. Make sure to check in with the professor from each course to confirm date, time, and location. You will need to speak with your professors early in the semester, so that you can straighten out the conflict. Adjustments can be made so that one of the finals is moved to an alternate time.

  • TRIO SSS advisors encourage students who have a declared major and/or departmental advisor to maintain contact with their assigned advisor. These advisors can help advise students more immediately on requirements for their majors, certain classes they'll need to take, or other opportunities in the department.

    However, TRIO SSS advisors are happy to help with supplementary academic advising. We can also provide advising on other services or resources (e.g., filing FAFSAs, connecting with campus services) that major and/or departmental advisors cannot.

  • A good place for work study students to start is by familiarizing themselves with work study requirements outlined on this page.

    We then recommend that students either reach out to the Office for Experiential Learning and Career Success themselves, or contact their TRIO advisors for help connecting with the office. The staff at ELCS offer a wide range of career-oriented services to students, including interview prep, resume and cover letter review, and assistance with searching and locating both work study and non-work study positions for students.

    Students can also continue to search for positions themselves by using and filtering for available work study positions.

  • Personal counseling can be accessed by scheduling online through Curry Health Center. There is no charge for a student's first attended visit in an academic year. Every following visit will cost $20. There is no cost for group therapy.

    Curry provides up to a total of 12 individual counseling sessions in an academic year before referring students to outside counseling services.

  • It does take a bit of practice to navigate the catalog. We recommend using the in the catalog for starters, and conducting a search when you struggle to find the right information.

    Please don’t hesitate to talk with a TRIO advisor and we’ll go online with you to find what you are looking for.