Northern Oklahoma College held its first annual ‘Access to Success’ in the Cultural Engagement Center at NOC Tonkawa on Tuesday.Over 40 Native American high school students attended the four-hour session to learn about NOC. Students from Tonkawa, Pawnee, Pawhuska, Enid, Frontier, Shidler, and Crescent attended the event.During the session, Vice President for Enrollment Management Dr. Rick Edgington showed students how to apply to NOC. Students also learned about concurrent enrollment for high school juniors and seniors.Dr. Edgington also asked students to fill out a worksheet showing students how the cost of college can be negated by grant and scholarship opportunities.Students asked questions to three panelists including NOC adjunct instructor Daniel Sherron, Willie Street, and Chris Littlecook to better understand the barriers for Native American students. The session was moderated by T.L. Walker, Director of the Institute for Tribal Government for NOC. The panelists shared their educational experiences and discussed opportunities for students.Students then toured the NOC campus with recruiter Bryan Hook, retention specialist Darion Bailey, and President Leadership Council students.After lunch, students met with Kelly Jordan, Financial Aid Counselor, and Scholarship Coordinator Kerri Gray.Students then met with representatives from Agriculture & Biological Sciences, Business, Fine Arts, Health, Physical Education & Recreation, Language Arts, Math, Nursing, Pre-Engineering/Process Technology, and Social Sciences.NOC President Dr. Clark Harris welcomed the student group to NOC. “We are so glad you are here on our campus today and we are glad you may be considering NOC,” he said. “NOC offers so much for students and we hope to show you that today during your visit.”The event was coordinated by Kathleen Swain, Coordinator of NOC’s Student Academic Success Center.
