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GRAND FORKS: Three Decades of Helping Students Succeed: UND's TRIO Director to Retire After More Than Three Decades

Posted on: Monday, 12 June 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Paulette Tobin, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Jun. 12--The idea behind the federally funded TRIO programs at UND is simple: to give everyone, regardless of income, access to a college education. Making the programs work, however, can be far from simple.

"Particularly with Upward Bound, there are always things that come up, little bumps and big bumps in the road, with the students," said longtime TRIO Project Director Neil Reuter, who is set to retire July 15. "You just have to be patient."

Reuter should know. A former All-American who came to UND in 1960 on a football scholarship, he began working summers with TRIO in 1968, just a couple of years after the program was launched nationwide, becoming a full-time employee in 1972.

In 1978 he became assistant director of what was then called UND's Student Opportunity Programs, and took over as project director in 1980. Then, there were three programs. Today, there are five programs that serve about 2,400 students a year, with a staff of 24, not including tutors and summer employees.

The federal TRIO programs motivate and support disadvantaged students, including low-income and first-generation college students, helping them through the academic pipeline from middle school to post baccalaureate programs. It includes:

-- Upward Bound, to help high school students academically and assist them in enrolling in college. A year-round program, its students spend six weeks at UND during the summer. Currently, the program is more than 50 percent American Indian, and 19 percent Hispanic.

-- Student Support Services, for college students, including advising and tutoring.

-- Educational Talent Search, for sixth-graders through high school seniors, to help them academically and to prepare them for college.

-- Educational Opportunity Centers. Similar to Talent Search, but for adults who never went to college or who didn't complete college.

-- Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program, to help college juniors and seniors prepare for graduate school.

Born in Plentywood, Mont., Reuter (pronounced "rooter") grew up in Williston, N.D. He graduated from UND in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in physical education, earning a master's degree in physical education in 1967 and a specialist degree in counseling and guidance in personnel work in 1971, all from UND.

Reuter taught for one year at an elementary school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; taught and coached for a year at Valley City (N.D.) State College; and was a counselor and assistant coach at Sacred Heart High School in East Grand Forks for a year. He is married to Colleen Reuter and has two sons, David and N.J.

Reuter's co-workers call him a solid presence who knows his values and cares for kids.

"He's probably one of the most positive people I've ever worked with," said Elaine Metcalfe, associate director of TRIO programs, who has worked with Reuter for 20 years and who will become director when he retires.

"He truly has a belief in the students. Even the kids who come from the toughest places, he's very willing to spend time and time and time. We do get some tough cases, but not all. But that is one of the things that just strikes me about Neil."

Reuter believes in the goal of TRIO, which is to give everyone access to college, Metcalfe said.

"He also is very sincere in his interest in all that UND does," she said. "He has watched the college grow with pride. He's always been interested in that part."

One of the highlights of his career, Reuter said, has been watching the growth in outreach of TRIO. One of the things he looks forward to in retirement, he said, is continuing his interest in UND sports.

"Obviously, the most rewarding thing after all these years has been seeing the success of the students," he said. What could be better than having former students - especially those who really struggled - return to say they have college degrees and rewarding lives?

"And that is really part of what has kept TRIO successful, those students telling the stories of their lives," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

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