A Message from the NEOCA President:

Carol Arner,
 NEOCA President

Dear NEOCA Colleagues: 

It is indeed an honor and a pleasure to serve as president of our organization.  I very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet and talk with many of you at our conference in San Diego and look forward to more occasions to work together during this year.

Of all the possible professional affiliations we might have, I find NEOCA to be the place where I feel most closely connected to colleagues who are sharing in the same type of work.  I hope our organization provides that same kind of support and collaboration for you and that you will join me in working to make NEOCA an even more vital group of Educational Opportunity Center Program professionals.

You may be aware that there are now 139 Educational Opportunity Centers.  This means that we have lots of potential to work together and make a difference for our participants.  It also means our numbers are larger in the TRIO community and we can be an even stronger voice for the needs of adult students. 

One of the goals of the executive committee is to get our committee structure in place so that we can work on some activities throughout this year.   We are in the process of getting committees formed and I hope you will consider getting involved as a committee member.  The NEOCA constitution and by-laws are posted on the website, so check them out to find more information about our association’s purpose and its committee structure. If you’re interested in volunteering please contact me or any of the officers listed on the website.

I look forward to another very good annual meeting just prior to the Council for Opportunity in Education annual conference in San Antonio next fall.  In the next few months, watch the website for details about our meeting.   In the meantime, I encourage you to use our website and the NEOCA email group to stay in touch with what’s happening with our association

I can be reached at arner@vsac.org or at 1-802-655-9602, ext 690.  I hope you will send me an email or give me a call if you have questions or suggestions about ways we can work together.

Sincerely,

Carol Arner
Vermont EOC
Vermont Student Assistance Corporation