From running a marathon in Hawaii, to his love for SZA and No Doubt. ECC’s director of TRIO Vinny Cascio brings a bright disposition to his passion for working with ECC students.
Q: How long have you been with ECC?
A: I was previously with ECC for seven years as a Wellness Professional. I was actually one of the first wellness professionals on campus…[for] seven years and then I ended up leaving ECC for about a year and a half. I went to Elmhurst University as their associate director of student identity and inclusion… As director of Trio, I’ve been in this role for a year and maybe six months.
Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background before ECC?
A: [I was] a licensed mental health therapist. This is in clinical counseling and rehabilitation. Prior to coming into higher education, I was working in the nonprofit sector, as well as the hospital system, working as a clinician, working with variety of populations.
Q: Can you define the role of TRIO director for me?
A: Yeah, so my role is to oversee both grants, so we are a federally funded grant program. We have two separate grants. The Students Support Services grant, which…we provide services to 32 students per year… Then, [the] English Second Language grant…, which is funded to serve 144 students every year. And so we combine those two grants, and we serve over 500 students per year… This program is specifically [designed] to serve students who are first generation students, so students who are coming from families where their parents did not complete a bachelor’s level degree. And then also students who are coming from lower income socioeconomic status, or students who have a documented disability.
Q: In your opinion, how are TRIO and mental health connected?
A: Yeah, well, you know, the way that we really work with our students here is we like to provide holistic support. It’s not gonna just be academic support, like learning how to manage your time, study skills, all of that. We want to take into consideration, like your whole mental health. Like, how are you feeling? What’s going on in your life personally, professionally? How hard are those things going, and how is that impacting your academic success here? It’s really important, as a clinician myself, like certainly I’m biased, of course, but I am very adamant about implementing mental health workshops for students to benefit from learning how to manage to stress, learning how to have healthy boundaries with family and friends. and make sure that like every aspect of your life is as balanced as can be so that way you can be successful. We’re really big on educating students on sub-advocacy, self-worth, building up your self-esteem and challenging yourself to, you know, conquer the things that stand in your way.