Connie High, who has led the University of the Ozarks’ Student Support Services (SSS) program since 2011, has announced that she will retire this summer. Her last day will be July 28.
The SSS program is part of TRIO, an initiative established by the federal government in 1964 to overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education. The SSS program at Ozarks provides extensive and varied academic services to students, including tutoring, course advisement, note-taking, success sessions, and financial aid workshops. The Student Support Center was added to the support services program in recent years to assist students who are not eligible for Trio.
High, whose title is director of the Student Support Center, said one of the things she will miss the most is working with students.
“I love the start of the fall semester. I’ll miss the excitement and buzz that that time brings to campus,” she said. “Many times I’m connected with students during freshmen orientation, so I’m working closely with them from their first semester until they graduate,” High said. “Prior to coming to Ozarks, most of my years in higher education were spent with ‘non-traditional’ college students, so it’s amazing to me to see the changes that occur in a person from 17 or 18 to 21 or 22 years old.”
All of the SSS services are free to eligible students. Ozarks is certified to serve 180 students who are first-generation college students, students from low income families, and students with disabilities.
“Most of the students in our Student Support Services program are first-generation college students,” High said. “We have three staff members in Trio who were the first in their family to graduate college. They are role models showing students that they can overcome obstacles and accomplish the goals they set out for themselves.”
High said her interview for the Ozarks position in April of 2011 is one memory that stands out for her.
“One of the tasks I was assigned during my job interview was a 30-minute presentation to the campus community,” High said. “My interview was in February and about an hour before my presentation was scheduled it started to snow. This being Arkansas, classes were cancelled and everyone headed home. I still had to do the presentation, but it was me sitting at the desk of the committee chair while stepping through the PowerPoint presentation on his computer. I would have been less nervous in front of a crowd.”
She said her first day at Ozarks, March 1, 2011, “felt like coming home.”
“I was happy to be back in my home state after spending many years away while working in Wyoming, Utah and Tennessee,” she said. “I started out working with Kimberly Spicer, Louis Aszod and Norma Kirshberger and they embraced and supported me as I connected with students, faculty, and staff.”
During her time at Ozarks, High wrote a pair of TRIO grants that helped the program secure nearly $3 million from 2015 to 2025.
“Almost every aspect of my job has been a joy,” she said. “I’ve loved working with the students; however, working under a grant can be a bit nerve-racking. The reality is that grants have to be funded in order for you to continue working. I’m proud of the fact that the Trio grants I’ve written were funded.”
She cited her colleagues at Ozarks as another thing she will miss.
“I have lots of fond memories, but the one that comes to mind at the moment is being on a search committee with [professors] Befrika Murdianti, Isaac Hunter, Chris Skinner, and Tammy Harrington,” she said. “It was one of those searches that kept resurrecting and reinventing itself, but being with that group of people made it a pleasant experience.”
“I will also miss the team of fantastic people I have had the pleasure to work with every day.”
High said her retirement plans include plenty of time with family.
“I have lots of plans for the next chapter of my life and my six sisters and brother also have big plans,” she said. “They expect lots more visits. I’m also very much looking forward to having more time to hang out with my 22 nieces and nephews, and their kids and grandkids. They’re a great group of people.”
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