WELCOME
Welcome to the new Student Affairs web site, designed to effectively communicate information around the division in a more useful, informative way. This week's communication features our increased focus on student success.
The Student Affairs Transformation has led to a leaner, more focused organization:
- Providing comprehensive learning support for the first time ever, The Think Tank engages students seeking assistance with writing, math, science and certain Tier One classes. In its first three weeks, the Think Tank has had over 2,000 walk-ins and 8,000 unique visits to its web site spending an average of over two minutes on the site. Ongoing feedback surveys indicate a high level of satisfaction with services.
- Setting a new standard for large public universities, The Next Steps Center provides a seamless, coordinated experience for enrolling students. For the first time, incoming students can pay their bills, get housing, sign up for orientation and have all of their questions answered in a single place, both physically and virtually.
- Entering its second year, student traffic in the Veterans' office has increased 500% from 50 vets a week to an average of 50 a day. The Veterans' Education and Transition Services (V.E.T.S.) Initiative coordinates services for vets, from GI Bill certification, to targeted transitions classes, to athletic programs for disabled veterans. The initiative has already won the Silver Excellence Award from NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators). Supported by a federal grant sponsored by Congressman Raul Grijalva , The University of Arizona is being viewed as one of the national leaders in campus veterans' support.
- Combining retention-focused programs that support students in transition, Orientation, New Start, MERITS, Transfer Students, New Student, Convocation and other Programs to make the most of reduced resources. In addition, we are piloting the Cohort Model of working with new students in smaller, supportive groups of 40. Students are supported online and in direct interaction with trained peer advisors, building on decades of research that indicate that new students do best when they connect in smaller communities, leading to meaningful interaction with other students, faculty and staff.