By Alison Griffin | Observer Contributor
Gaurav Khanna, director of the Trio organization at Mount Wachusett Community College said he Trio Program consists of three sects: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Visions. Visions, in co-ordinance with the Trio program, was created in 1965 under the Johnson Presidency. It is designed to help students succeed despite their disabilities and financial shortcomings.
Admittance into the program requires at least one of the following criteria: students must be a first generation college student, have a disability, or be in poor financial standing. Although many of this applies to students at the Mount, space is limited. Mr. Khanna said, “All funding comes from the Federal Government.”
Mr. Khanna described the selection process and explained that even though students may embody two of the criteria, it does not constitute admittance. Mr. Khanna also said that “Trio has always been colorblind.” He said that the Trio organization does not use external markers to determine the demographic of its students. The selection process has nothing to do with ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or marital status.
The program has seven counselors that work only with the Visions students, meaning that the frequency of meeting with their advisors is high. Counselors provide services such as career and transfer counseling, tutoring, and academic advising. In speaking of the success and length of the program, Mr. Khanna said, “It is one of the few programs to survive the test of time.” Mr. Khanna also said that every five years, each Trio program must submit a report to the Federal Government in order to determine funding for the following five years. The program has been around for almost thirty-five years.
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