New Student Success Center Created For Student Convenience , Expanded Access

The Student Success Center inside the Business Technology Center on campus has recently opened, a merging of student support resources—the Advising Center and Student Development.

The center offers a new convenience for students, who will now have easier access to a variety of services. Among other things offered on campus, students can visit the office for academic advising, transfer services, career counseling, personal counseling, student readiness, and college accommodations.

The office’s strategic plan sets goals of making student resources more robust. The reorganization originated from a holistic approach to student success, with the mission to offer students one central location in the Business Technology Center where they could go for services to help them reach their goals.

“The centralized location and increased collaboration between Advising and Student Development has enabled the staff to better connect students to resources on campus,” said Bobbi Yarbrough, director of Academic Advising. “The Student Success Center staff members have worked collectively, under the direction of the Vice Chancellor for Student Services, to launch the Student Success Academy this spring. The purpose of the academy is to provide additional support and mentorship to new college students.”

Students, especially new ones enrolling at the college, often struggle with deciding on which degree program to enter. The new center can help those students decide on what program is best for them, based on their career goals or personal strengths.

“One of the many benefits of the Student Success Center in regards to registration is the ability to connect students to career planning,” said Yarbrough. “Deciding on a major can be challenging for students, especially first-time entering students.  If a new student comes in for advising and is unsure of which career path to follow, we can now easily connect the students to Student Development for guidance on choosing a major.”

A closer physical proximity of the two offices can also help those students in meetings with Student Development staff, said Cody Davis, director of Student Development.

“Often times in personal counseling or career planning, course schedules and major questions come up that an academic advisor is well versed to answer,” he said. “Good advising leads to student success and being closer in proximity and working closer with the advisors has been a tremendous help to our students.”

The Student Success Center has also revamped its digital presence by rebranding the UACCM Career Services Facebook page, which now offers news on all of the Center’s services. This includes visits from transfer reps, job postings from employers throughout the region, wellness advice, and other campus events.