A pair of students study in the B.D. Owens Library last spring. After a restructuring during the summer, the second floor of the Owens Library is known now as the Student Success Center and offers free resources to assist students throughout their academic journeys. (Northwest Missouri State University photo)
Northwest Missouri State University’s academic success units have a new look this fall to better connect students with the resources they need to maximize their potential.
The new Student Success Center located in the B.D. Owens Library is a one-stop, centralized hub designed to support student learning and contribute to students’ growth and development from orientation to graduation. The center focuses on transitioning, advising, supporting and connecting students to academic resources.
It features more academic support offerings and expanded hours to include individual tutoring appointments during evening hours. All services provided at the Student Success Center are free to Northwest students.
“The new Student Success Center is being launched as one component of our strategic plan for improving student retention and completion,” Bev Schenkel, Northwest’s associate provost for enrollment and retention management, said. “The model will allow us to be more efficient and improve customer service by building a team of staff who are cross-trained, and be more responsive to student needs. I am excited about the synergy that this new Center will afford the Northwest community.”
Through a restructuring finalized during the summer, Northwest has decentralized its academic advising operations and moved its first-year academic advisor and success coaches into academic halls. The University’s advisement office, which had been located in the Administration Building, is now located in the Student Success Center on the Owens Library’s second floor, which also houses programs and services dedicated to academic support, academic recovery, orientation, the first-year experience and retention.
The new Student Success Center concept replaces the Talent Development Center, which was founded at Northwest in 1986 – though the former TDC’s academic support programs remain a focus of the new center. For decades, those programs, such as Supplemental Instruction sessions that provide extra help through peer tutoring groups for traditionally tough classes, have helped students navigate the rigors of college courses. Staff members log about 10,000 hours annually while assisting about 3,000 Northwest students who use the services.
Additionally, the new Student Success Center will collaborate closely with the Writing Center and other academic assistance units across campus.
Announced by the University in May as the first piece of the restructuring, Allison Hoffmann, a senior instructor in the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business, has begun serving as director of academic success and retention, a unit that is dependent on faculty input and engagement as well as curriculum development, and oversees the Student Success Center.
“Our team understands students’ unique needs, learning styles and definitions of success,” Hoffmann said. “We take a personalized approach to serving students by looking closely at each student’s individual interests, strengths, abilities and career goals and using varied techniques and collaborative partnerships throughout campus to assist them on their path to success at Northwest.”
An open house is being planned at the Student Success Center this fall.
