51��’s academic affairs and student affairs leadership expand partnership to elevate student success

51��'s Athens Campus is shown in this aerial image

51��’s Academic Affairs and Student Affairs units are collaborating on a reorganization of student support services to further strengthen student success and bolster the OHIO Guarantee+ commitment to students.

“Ensuring that every student succeeds at OHIO and beyond is our top priority, and it takes all of us working together to achieve that goal,” said 51�� President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “Over the past five years, 51�� has expanded student support and experiential learning opportunities, and we will continue to build on that to maximize retention rates and student outcomes.”

The changes will support OHIO’s unique model of student support, which connects each student with a Student Success Team that includes a professional academic advisor, a career coach, and an experiential learning specialist to ensure on-time graduation and preparation for post-degree success through the OHIO Guarantee+ program. The reorganization of services will elevate this commitment by aligning student support and experience services with adjacent programming.

Beginning Aug. 1, OHIO’s Allen Advising Center, Office of Experiential Learning, Office of Global Opportunities, and University-wide advising including Graduation Plans will be organized under University College. These units will be integrated with other academic support services, including the Academic Achievement Center, and signature academic experiences such as Learning Communities. Together, these units will offer a full suite of services supporting student academic engagement, opportunities, retention and success.

“Over the last several years 51�� has seen increases in our first-year retention rates, and we have the opportunity to further improve these outcomes,” said 51�� Executive Vice President and Provost Don Leo, who joined OHIO July 1. “Improving retention and reducing time to graduation will continue to be among our primary areas of focus.”

As part of the reorganization, OHIO’s Career Services team will be added to the Division of Student Affairs where it will be more closely aligned with leadership development programming for students as well as with on-campus employment opportunities that help prepare students for careers.

Finally, Bobcat Student Orientation will move to the Division of Student Affairs reporting to the Dean of Students office. This move expands on the existing partnership with Parent and Family Engagement, also in the Dean of Students’ portfolio, and aligns well with Student Affairs’ involvement in Welcome Week and residential Move-In activities. Orientation programming will continue to be a collective effort, involving colleges and multiple offices on campus, as we acclimate students to the OHIO experience.

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with Academic Affairs to connect students with co-curricular experiences beginning from day one and to align on-campus leadership and career development with students’ academic plans and career goals,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Lyn Redington. “Ultimately our work together can and will improve student outcomes.”

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