This past December Guilford College had the honor of receiving the Outstanding Collaborative Initiative Award for its Student Success Program.
The award was sponsored by College Student Educators International or ACPA.
According to their website, the ACPA is founded on values such as education, diversity, and multicultural competence; their stated goal is to “advance student affairs and engage students for a lifetime of learning and discovery.”
The commission of the ACPA which granted Guilford’s award — the Commission for Admissions, Orientation and First-Year Experience — looks to form connections between areas such as enrollment and adjustment of first-year students in order to make the integration as smooth and as enjoyable as possible.
This is precisely the purpose of Guilford’s Student Success Program.
“We began the development of the Student Success Program in the spring of 2008” said Associate Academic Dean and Associate Professor of PhysicsSteve Shapiro.
“The idea for this program was to provide support for students so that they could be successful at Guilford.”
The goal of the SSP is to help new students to balance an academic workload while simultaneously making a smooth transition to college life.
As a part of the SSP, a new student will meet weekly with a mentor for their first year, and complete a class called Learning Strategies. This program — consisting of professional mentors and peer leaders — helps students to feel more connected and less overwhelmed in their new college environment.
“I had seen students fail who had not effectively use the student support services that the college provided,” said Shapiro in an e-mail interview. “I felt that by developing such a program we could better connect these students with these services and help them reach their educational goals.”
Assistant Academic Dean for Advising and Academic Support Barbara Boyette nominated Guilford’s Student Success Program.
When Boyette heard that Guilford had received the award, she was “thrilled to see the hard work of so many people across campus publically and nationally acknowledged.”
“It (the award) means we are acknowledged for the hard work and true collaboration that takes place across the campus,” said Boyette. “Our Student Success Program could serve as a model for other schools.”
Over the past few years, the administration supported this program as well as retention efforts in general.
“[The administration] has recognized the power of person-to-person contact in helping students succeed and feel a part of the Guilford community,” said Boyette. “We now have professional staff that lives in the residence halls who can be in contact with the students, day or night, when they might need help.”
One of the hall directors, Larry Cummings, was also thrilled to hear about the award.
“There have been great strides that have been made with the program,” said Binford Hall Director andSSP Mentor Larry Cummings.
“I think it’s important for the campus community to know the mission of our program, which is to foster a holistic retention effort that encourages skill building toward academic success and empowers student development and engagement through an individualized mentoring program,” said Cummings.
It is hard to say whether or not other student success programs will be initiated as a result of this award.
“We as a college are always thinking and looking at ways we can be better and do better,” said Boyette.