Student Success Center

By Stephen Pastis

College can be a challenge, but the Student Success Center serves as a one-stop shop that helps students achieve their academic and personal goals, providing support in everything from nancial advice to tutoring in speci c courses.

According to Dana Talbert, director of the Student Success Center, the center sees nearly 50,000 visits in a typical academic year, and roughly 60% of rst-year students use the SSC at some time in their rst semester and year on campus.

The variety of programs generally fall into four main areas: coursespeci c academic support, early intervention, population-speci c support and academic engagement.

Course-speci c academic support includes peer tutoring, supplemental instruction and the peer writing communications lab.

Peer tutoring sessions are one-onone meetings with trained peer tutors, undergraduate students who’ve previously done well in the course they tutor. The SSC o ers tutoring in over 200 courses and has an option to request a tutor for a course that isn’t currently covered.

Supplemental instruction sessions, on the other hand, are study groups that meet regularly throughout the semester and are led by a student, an SI leader, who attends course meetings alongside the students they’re working with. These sessions provide the ability to explore course concepts in an informal and enjoyable setting outside the classroom.

The SSC’s writing lab is another source for one-on-one support, with peer leaders o ering help with papers, presentations, speeches and many other types of assignments. If a student just needs general support, instead of help with a certain class or assignment, the SSC o ers success consultations with peer leaders to help build study skills and plan for a productive semester.

Certain student populations such as transfer students, veteran students and sophomores might have particular needs or issues to deal with.Individual consultations and programming for each of the special populations are o ered throughout the year.

The Student Success Center also o ers professors and faculty members who are concerned about a student the ability to make an early-intervention report and help that student receive services from the SSC.

Besides academic support, the SSC o ers help with nancial planning and success through money management consultations, which are one-on-one meetings with a peer, and workshops that provide general information to groups or organizations.

Finally, the SSC’s academic engagement initiatives include information on studying abroad through the National Student Exchange and opportunities to establish important relationships through programming that connects students with faculty.

The Student Success Center is open to all, from a student just wanting a good grade on a mid-term to one who is struggling to make ends meet a er an unexpected expense.

“I think for students, it’s helpful to know that everybody goes to something from the Student Success Center at some point,” Talbert said. “There’s so many resources that we o er that it’s

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER

normal for you to come and get the help that you need.”

Talbert said she advises students to come to the SCS “early and o en” because sometimes, by the time students utilize the service, it’s much more di cult to help get them on track.

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CROSSWORD

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