Student Success Center moves into Thomas Commons

The Student Success Center is now welcoming students to their new office location on the lower level of the Thomas Commons.

The office, located right next to The Berry Career Institute, supports and advises students on campus. The 2022-23 academic year marks the second year for the newly created Student Success Center.

Director of Student Success Brooke Paulsen says she’s excited about how accessible the center’s new location will be for students.

“We are downstairs from the Hilltop Café where students eat each day, and this location will make visiting our office a quick and easy process for students,” Paulsen said. “With the centralized lobby area, it will be easy for students to come to one place and be able to have six professional staff members available to them quickly.”

The Student Success Center is the go-to office for all students, but it especially helps students in their first and second years of college who are learning campus, figuring out the block plan, and working to find their path. Last year the center had more than 1,400 individual appointments with students to discuss topics such as exploring majors, adjusting study habits, getting a tutor, setting up disability accommodations, and more.

The new location in the Thomas Commons will have QR codes posted in the lobby, so students can easily make an appointment online with a staff member. Students are also welcome to visit the office any time between 8–5. (The staff welcomes walk-in meetings.) The new space will also allow the center to host more workshops in their conference room. In all, the new location has seven offices, a conference room, and a lobby. 

“We have many students who visit with the staff here regularly to brainstorm continued strategies for adjusting their approach to academic study habits and other students who might pop in for just one meeting,” Paulsen said. “Our staff members are not clinical counselors, but we do a lot of listening when things are stressful or when students need to problem solve through any number of potential bumps in the road they experience on-campus.”

Staff members are looking forward to another successful year supporting students across campus as the office kicks off its second year.