TRIO/SSS advisor exemplifies campus community service

Megan Petersen, 32, has received the Dakota County Technical College Staff of the Year Award for 2024–2025. Megan serves as an academic and financial aid advisor in TRIO/Student Support Services at the college. She began working at DCTC in August 2021 as a TRIO/SSS tutor. She took on the role of advisor in January 2023.

Megan Petersen

“Going above and beyond for our students and for each other seems like the norm rather than the exception at DCTC,” Megan said, “so to be singled out like this is a huge honor and deeply humbling.”

Her duties as a TRIO/SSS advisor are focused on delivering comprehensive advising services to a caseload of 80–90 first-generation, low-income, and disabled college students while promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Megan helped implement innovative programming at DCTC, including TRIO Body Doubling Study Tables, a Sensory-Friendly Study Space, and the TRIO graduation celebration. She also supervises a team of student ambassadors and interviews, hires, and trains student workers.

On top of her work as TRIO/SSS advisor, Megan serves on the college’s Student Programming Workgroup, Campus Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE) Team, MAPE Executive Team, and Neurodiverse Employee Resource Group (ERG). She previously served on the college’s Policies & Procedures Committee and was a Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter staff advisor.

Megan was recognized with a DCTC Equity & Inclusion Champion Award in 2024. The previous year, she received a Phi Theta Kappa Golden Apple Award.

In 2015, Megan graduated cum laude from Scripps College in Claremont, California, with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Legal Studies. She completed literature-level courses in Arabic and German. In fact, she was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship in 2012 by the U.S. Department of State to study Arabic in Rabat, Morocco.

Before arriving at DCTC, Megan worked as a lead teacher and tutor at the Huntington Learning Center in Blaine, Minnesota. She previously worked as a membership communications coordinator at Scientific Societies in St. Paul and as a citizen correspondence specialist in the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General.

Megan Petersen: Work philosophy

“Actions speak louder than words.”

Megan Petersen
TRIO/Student Support Services Academic and Financial Aid Advisor 
Staff of the Year Award 2024–2025
Dakota County Technical College

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Melissa Fletcher: Nominator perspective

“Megan is one of the most student-centered colleagues I’ve ever worked with; her exuberance and faith in a student’s success, even when they may not have it for themselves, is exceptional. She brings a perspective of true inclusion based on her background and willingness to learn more. Her energy is infectious.”

Melissa Fletcher
Director of Educational Access and Disability Resources
Dakota County Technical College
(Nominated Megan for the annual award.)

More about Megan…

Megan, Otis, and Jeff at Cheevenhojin June 2024; photo by Bryan Hempstead

Originally from New Town, North Dakota, Megan graduated from Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Class of 2011. Her immediate family includes her husband, Jeff Shiu, and their son, Otis, who will turn two this summer.

“Jeff and I met in North Dakota ten years ago and have been married since 2021,” Megan said. “Otis is the light of my life, and I have to stop myself from talking about him all the time. He is all the best qualities of my husband, me, and our families bound up in one tiny person. He’s an amazing kid and being in his orbit is my favorite place to be.”

Megan is also very close with her parents and her sister, Haley. She considers herself lucky that Haley also lives in St. Paul, which means their parents travel here to see them more often than they can get back to North Dakota to see them. Jeff’s parents also live in the Twin Cities now, and his siblings are all in Minnesota, so Megan gets to spend a lot of time with her in-laws.

Otis helping Megan crochet

“I get a ton of joy being with our niece and two nephews on the Shiu side,” she said. “I grew up surrounded by extended family and have stayed close with many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, so it means the world to me that my son gets to see both sides of his family as often as he does. And we do our best to get to Grand Forks as often as we can to see my Grammy Ruth. I also have a three-year-old godson, Ira, who lives in Salt Lake City.”

In her free time, Megan is big into crafting. Right now, she mainly knits and crochets, but she also cross-stitches.

“I think my husband would also say I also have a hobby collecting yarn—it takes up quite a bit of precious storage space,” she added. “But it truly brings me so much joy. I’ve been knitting since I was twelve or thirteen when I got a kit for my birthday, and I picked up crocheting a few years later. This was before YouTube tutorials were a thing, and no one else in my family could knit, so I pretty much learned from the book that came with my kit and trial and error. I honestly think that made me a better crafter, though, because you learn the most when you have to correct a mistake.”

In terms of what she makes, Megan goes through phases. For a while it was blankets and larger projects. At the moment, she’s really into making clothes and accessories. She’s hoping to make her first sweater this year, but she’s waiting to see if that actually happens.

“I usually have a handful of works-in-progress going at a time, so things always take way longer than they ought to,” she said. “I also have a goal of writing my own patterns. I just need to get over my imposter syndrome about it—there are so many incredible patterns out there that it’s hard to feel like I have anything more to contribute to the conversation.”

Crochet cardigan; photo by Jeff Shiu

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Learn more about Megan’s crafting work by visiting:

makeitmeg on Instagram

Other pastimes…

While she dedicates most of her free time to crafty things, Megan’s first love is actually writing. She has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She used to fill notebooks with stories and “really bad” poetry when she was growing up.

“I do have a goal of writing a book one day—but I’ve never successfully completed a first draft,” she admitted. “I’ll get an idea, write about five thousand words, and then convince myself it’s terrible and abandon the project. Someday, I’ll get over myself and actually finish something!”

Megan also grew up a huge bookworm, and she still tries to find time to read for fun when she can. She recently got into the romance genre, but her hoard of books has lots of other genres in it, too.

“My literary idol is Virginia Woolf—I wish I could write like her,” she said. “But don’t ask me about my ‘To Read’ list—it’s embarrassingly long and stares at me with dismay every time I look at my bookshelves.”

Megan, Jeff, and Otis reside in St. Paul, Minnesota

Megan life and college gallery

Honorable Mention Staff of the Year Award 2024–2025 Nominees

Anna Voigt, Campus Merger Coordinator (Marie Sanders)
Chris Hinrichs, Customized Sales Representative (Amy Evanson)
Colleen Moser, Academic Affairs Curriculum Director (TJ McCann, Cheryl Brogger)
Heather Kleimola-Hulbert & Michelle Caron, General Tutor and Reading/Writing Tutor (Megan Petersen)
Marlo Teal, Strategic Marketing and Communications (Maranda Weibel)
Melissa Troska, Office & Administrative Assistant (Julie S. DuBois)
Nicole Meulemans, Director of Student Life and Activities (Megan Petersen, Xuong Tran, Erin Lund, Heather Kleimola-Hulbert, Anna Voigt)
Rebecca Jacobson, Academic and Financial Aid Advisor (Charles Gerold)

Megan Petersen • Q & A

Megan Petersen

What inspired you to choose higher education as your career field?

I honestly came to DCTC as a bit of a misfit toy. I’d bounced around from journalism to law to communications prior, and I just couldn’t find a place to land. My mental health had also been a huge challenge, but I’d finally figured out what works for me after fits and starts both personally and professionally for most of my 20s.

I was working part-time as a tutor and really wanted full-time work with benefits, but I couldn’t get interviews in communications, and most tutoring gigs are super part-time with unpredictable schedules. Enter Nicole Meulemans and her team, who hired me to be a tutor for the TRIO program. It felt like everything just fell into place—my mental health was finally in a space where I could really commit myself to work, and Nicole is an incredible boss who supported me unconditionally.

About a year and a half after I started, an advising job opened up in TRIO, and it was scary and exciting to make that move. I had something like 10 years of tutoring experience under my belt, but had never been an advisor before. I had a ton to learn and still sometimes feel like I’m asking super basic questions—but everyone has been so helpful and patient with me, especially my fellow TRIO advisor, Xuong Tran, and the academic and financial aid advisors in Enrollment Services.

The short answer to this question is: DCTC has been an incredible place to work, and I’m so grateful that I landed here when I did. I hadn’t really considered a career in higher ed—my bachelor’s is in Legal Studies, for goodness’ sake—but DCTC has been so good to me since day one.

What do you enjoy most about your work as a TRIO/Student Support Services advisor?

My students and my colleagues. Both groups inspire and motivate me to keep going even when the going gets tough.

What advice would you give students thinking about participating in TRIO/SSS?

There’s no shame in admitting you need support. Everyone needs help—and TRIO is here to meet you where you’re at and help you reach your goals. Also, I have candy in my office and our events always have food. 😊

Three words that describe you as a higher education professional:
ENTHUSED. AUTHENTIC. RESPONSIVE.

What motivates you to serve the DCTC campus community in ways that are above and beyond your core job duties?

It’s so easy to go above and beyond when you see everyone around you going above and beyond. Everyone I work with closely is always asking themselves and each other, “How can we do more to serve students? How can we make things more inclusive? How can we make this campus better? How can I help?”

It’s the status quo, so I never really feel like I’m doing much more than everyone around me is doing—in fact, I often feel like there’s more I could do in comparison to some of my colleagues.

What person has influenced your life the most and why?

A whole host of people came to mind as an answer to this question—my parents, my sister, my closest friends, Kit Kittredge…But my mind kept circling back to my grandma, Dell Petersen. I grew up one street over from her, so she was ever-present in my life. She was a Depression-era farm kid who grew up to be a college graduate and a business owner.

Grandma was creative and smart and funny and hard-working, and so committed to her community and her family. She passed away when I was 18, but I only feel more connected to her as time goes on. I also feel like I understand her better the older I get. So we’ll go with Grandma, with an honorable mention to my parents and Kit Kittredge.

If you could make one thing happen on Earth right now, what would it be?

I would eliminate the barriers to solving climate change.

One word that best describes your experience at DCTC:

INCLUSIVE

Megan Petersen • 12 Answers

1. Favorite sport or physical activity: To do: swimming; to watch: hockey
2. Place you would most like to visit: Denmark
3. Most exciting thing you’ve ever done: Studying Arabic in Rabat, Morocco
4. Three things you would do if you won a $1 billion lottery: 1) Buy a house 2) Buy a really nice sewing machine 3) Save the rest for my son’s future
5. Best book or movie you’ve read or seen lately: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston—I’ve read the book, but still need to see the movie!
6. Time period you would explore if you could time travel: 300 years in the future
7. One thing you most want to accomplish in life: Writing a novel
8. Your national bird if you were your own country: Mourning dove
9. Dream occupation: Novelist
10. Person you would most like to meet: Either Bisan Owda or Chappell Roan
11. Skill you would most like to learn and master: Making all my own clothes
12. Most important issue or problem facing humankind: Not loving our neighbors as we love ourselves

Learn more about attending DCTC by contacting:

Admissions
admissions@dctc.edu
651-423-8266
Room 2-110

Learn more about TRIO/Student Support Services by contacting:

Nicole Meulemans
Director of Student Life and Activities
nicole.meulemans@dctc.edu
651-423-8403

Xuong Tran
TRIO/Student Support Services Advisor
xuong.tran@dctc.edu
651-423-8289

Megan Petersen
TRIO/SSS Advisor
megan.petersen@dctc.edu
651-423-8384

TRIO Student Support Services

Federal TRIO Programs

Federal TRIO educational opportunity outreach programs support and motivate low-income, first-generation college students as well as students with disabilities to navigate academic environments from middle school to postgraduate programs. The goal of Federal TRIO programs is to increase the percentage of low-income and first generation college students who successfully pursue postsecondary education opportunities.

Three Key Goals

1. Help you do well in your courses
2. Help you re-enroll each semester and graduate
3. Help you transfer to a four-year college and earn your bachelor’s degree

SSS Eligibility

To be eligible for Student Support Services, you must be one or more of the following:

• Students with limited income based on federal income guidelines
• First-generation college student with neither parent having a bachelor’s degree
• Student with a documented disability

Funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, SSS is an educational opportunity program that serves 160 students. Students in our program receive intensive, one-on-one and small-group assistance designed to meet their specific needs.

TRIO application

Click link below to apply. You will be asked to sign in to complete your application. Enter the following credentials:

Username: StarID@go.minnstate.edu, e.g., ab1234cd@go.minnstate.edu
Password: Your StarID password

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DCTC TRIO/SSS Application & Verification Form

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SSS benefits and advantages

From acceptance into the program until graduation, TRIO/SSS students may receive and/or utilize in the following:

Academic

• Academic enrichment
• Academic success workshops
• Access to laptops and desktop computers in SSS tutoring area
• Effective retention and graduation strategies
• Monitoring academic progress
• One-on-one academic advising
• Study skills development
• Two- and four-year major planning
• Transfer assistance

Financial literacy

• Budget-management seminar
• Credit education
• Financial aid search
• Funding postsecondary education

Personal

• Career exploration
• Cultural enrichment experiences
• Goal setting assistance
• Peer mentoring
• Self-advocacy skill development
• Referrals to on- and off-campus resources

LEARN MORE…