December 17, 2020
K-State TRIO team selected for regional leadership positions
Submitted by Stephanie J. Bannister
Maggie Borders, Emily Miner and Scott Velasquez have been appointed as committee co-chairs in the Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, or MO-KAN-NE, Chapter of Educational Opportunity Association.
Borders, academic specialist for TRIO McNair Scholars Program, was appointed as co-chair for the MO-KAN-NE McNair Heartland Research Conference Committee. Miner, program specialist/writing specialist for TRIO Educational Supportive Services, was appointed as co-chair for the Research and Evaluation Committee. Velasquez, academic services coordinator for TRIO Educational Supportive Services, was appointed as co-chair of the Alumni Engagement Committee. Their appointments were confirmed at the MO-KAN-NE Transition Meeting on Dec. 3-4.
As co-chair for the MO-KAN-NE McNair Heartland Research Committee, Borders assists with planning and implementing the conference. Other charges for this committee include presenting a conference preliminary budget that projects at least $10,000 revenue over expenses; coordinating with Technology and Public Relations and Communications committees to ensure wide dissemination of the conference information to McNair programs nationally; and presenting regular reports to the MO-KAN-NE Board and a final report during the final board meeting. Borders has been part of this committee since 2018; her greatest responsibility before becoming co-chair was scheduling the conference's more than 250 presenters.
Borders has served as the academic specialist for the TRIO McNair Scholars Program since 2017.
As co-chair for the Research and Evaluation Committee, Miner assists in compiling program assessment tools and relevant research articles into a shared database. Charges for this committee include designing and distributing evaluation tools for chapter events; collecting and analyzing data to share with the board; promoting research and evaluation related to the chapter's mission, goals and objectives; supporting the board and committees with the collection and analysis of data as needed to assist the chapter in making data-driven decisions; highlighting best practices in research and evaluation from programs across the chapter; and presenting regular reports to the MO-KAN-NE Board and a final report during the final board meeting.
Miner has served as program/writing specialist for TRIO Educational Supportive Services since 2019.
As co-chair for the Alumni Engagement Committee, Velasquez is charged to investigate strategies successfully implemented by other chapters and regions for engaging alumni, gather a focus group — virtually — of MO-KAN-NE TRIO and GEAR UP alumni to assess desired or productive engagement strategies, and implement at least one engagement idea during 2021.
Before becoming co-chair, Velasquez was the 2017-2018 MO-KAN-NE Emerging Leaders Institute member, the Educational Opportunity Association, or EOA, co-chair for Fair Share, and a member of EOA and MO-KAN-NE’s Research and Evaluation committees. From 2018-2020, he chaired the MO-KAN-NE Research and Evaluation Committee, which surveyed and evaluated numerous conferences, and he was a member of the EOA Research and Evaluation Committee, which surveyed and evaluated EOA Annual Professional conferences. He was also on the 2019 MO-KAN-NE Annual Conference Committee. Currently, Velasquez is also on the Special Concerns and Affiliations Committee, which is charged to make sure GEAR UP voices and perspectives are represented at MO-KAN-NE.
Velasquez has served as academic services coordinator for TRIO Educational Supportive Services since 2011.