Steve Frantz, system director in the Office of the Chancellor, shows prospective
students the colleges and universities brochures available in the booth.
Early this morning we faced a sudden downpour, but the rain didn’t last. Fairgoers showed their dedication by once again, at the stroke of 9, pouring through the doors of the Education Building.
One of our first guests to arrive was Ruth Grendahl, a trustee on the board of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. She was eager to meet fairgoers and answer questions, and soon I had her helping out at the Wheel of Luck.
Trustee Ruth Grendahl of
Among others helping in the booth was Nardos Senbeta from the TRIO program. I learned that she is from Ethiopia and moved to the United States to go to school. She started out at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, earning a two-year degree, and then transferred to Augsburg College. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in business management, she started working for TRIO. It seems that she has found her calling because she has been working at TRIO for the last 14 years. Two years ago, she went back to study at Minnesota State University, Mankato and obtained her master’s in education leadership.
The TRIO program is designed to help low-income, first-generation college students, as well as veterans with the financial aspect of education. The program works with students as early as middle-school age all the way up through adulthood. Senbeta works in the Educational Opportunity Center, primarily with students age 19 and older. Just this one part of the program serves 3,000 students per year. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities offer more than 40 TRIO programs statewide.
Nardos Senbeta tells a visitor about the TRIO programs that help students of all ages.
I also met with Trustee Dan McElroy, chair of the board’s academic and student affairs committee as well as commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development. He told me that one of the things he is interested in is whether or not to expand Metropolitan State University. The population in the Twin Cities metro area is growing and so is the number of students who are college-bound.
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