Consuelo Gutierrez-Crosby has been named interim director for the TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) program at CEHD. She has served as the assistant director for TRIO SSS since the fall of 2020, providing strong leadership for many of its signature initiatives.

Gutierrez-Crosby is replacing Minerva Muñoz, who is stepping down as director to take a position as dean of institutional equity at Macalester College. Muñoz has led TRIO SSS with distinction for the past six years.

TRIO SSS is in capable hands with Gutierrez-Crosby aboard. She has a 20-plus-year career in program development, implementation, and management in non-profit, higher education, and philanthropic sectors. She has a passion for first-generation college success and is energized by opportunities to maximize and build on student strengths.

Gutierrez-Crosby is an alum of Macalester, where she majored in international studies and sociology with a minor in political science. She is also a University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs alum, where she received a master’s degree in public policy with a concentration in nonprofit management.

TRIO SSS strives to ensure access to equal opportunity education for U of M students who are first-generation in college, low-income, with disabilities, or for whom English is not their first language. Through inclusive and accessible services, including academic support, counseling, teaching and advocacy, TRIO SSS seeks to remove institutional and cultural barriers, foster a climate that values the social and cultural capital of students, and promote retention to graduation.