Wineland Promoted to SSS Director

Lori Wineland, a member of the Arkansas Tech University Student Services Support (SSS) staff since the program was initiated in 2010, has been promoted to serve as director of the office.

“There are so many students who have been told they cannot be successful in college because they are not smart enough, they don’t have enough money or no one from their family has ever attended college before,” said Wineland. “We are here to tell students they can do it and to provide them with the tools to succeed. We want them to know that there are people here who want to invest the time to see them achieve their goals.”

Wineland holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Arkansas Tech.

She majored in economics and finance during her undergraduate career and later added a Master of Science degree in college student personnel from Arkansas Tech.

After previously working in the Arkansas Tech Office of Financial Aid, Wineland joined the SSS office as an advisor in 2010 and served in that capacity until her promotion to SSS director was approved by the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees on Aug. 16.

Wineland and full-time SSS advisors Lindsey Riedmueller and Nichole Christensen provide the 140 Arkansas Tech students selected for the program each year with extra support in their efforts to persist to graduation.

In 2010, Arkansas Tech received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education that funds the SSS program. Student Support Services falls under the umbrella of TRIO, an initiative enacted by the federal government in 1965 to overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education. The funds allow Arkansas Tech to provide specialized services to current students who are first-generation college students from low-income families and current students who have disabilities evidencing academic need. 

Arkansas Tech students selected for the program have access to academic tutoring and advising, financial aid information, personal counseling, information about applying for graduate and professional schools and information about career services. Program participants are also exposed to field trips and other cultural experiences that they might not otherwise have access to.

During the fall 2012 semester, Arkansas Tech Student Support Services will provide its students with workshops that educate them on financial literacy, test-taking strategies, some pitfalls of social media, stress management and diversity appreciation. Click here to learn more about the Arkansas Tech Student Support Services program.

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