TRiO director first to receive new UC Denver award

Teresa De Herrera, director of the TRiO Student Support Services program at the university (second from right, top row), Umberto Guerrero (top right) and other students from the TRiO program at UC Denver. De Herrera is the first recipient of the UC Denver Global Ambassador Award from the Office of International Affairs.

Teresa De Herrera was honored recently with the first University of Colorado Denver Global Ambassador Award.

De Herrera, director of the TRiO Student Support Services program at the university, encourages students to look beyond assumptions and geographic boundaries in creating their ideal educational path.

The TRiO program helps first-generation, low-income students and those with disabilities to achieve academic success. De Herrera provides practical support that allows students from diverse backgrounds to successfully study abroad.

"I've seen such growth in the students who study abroad, not only academically but also in their level of maturity," De Herrera said. She added that the program offers truly experiential learning and functions as an excellent retention tool: Students return to the states with a powerful degree of motivation.

De Herrera and her staff actively identify candidates for international education, then tutor and advise the students and guide them to scholarship opportunities. Using storytelling and role models, De Herrera encourages students of multiethnic backgrounds to "see themselves" as part of the greater international community.

"These first-generation college students are important to the future leadership of America. They are part of the strength of our emergent university and the emergent population of the U.S.," said Carolyn North, assistant vice chancellor for international affairs in the Office of International Education.