A New Academic Year and a New Student Success Center!
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Bryan Marinelli, Assistant VP/ Dean of Student Academic Success, who over-sees the new Student Success Center (SSC.) To learn about the specific academic advising and support services offered by the Center, I invite you to view this video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYCLriwN3k
Sometimes it takes a little nudge to help students realize all that we have in place to assist them. Feel free to give them that nudge!
Jackie
Bryan, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I have been at PC for a little over 17 years. I grew up in Coventry, Rhode Island and attended Coventry High School before going to URI for my Bachelor’s Degree in English. I then went on to Boston College for a Master’s in Higher Education Administration before returning to URI for a Ph.D. in English. I live in Hopkinton, RI with my wife Rachel, our two daughters (Hannah and Makayla), our dog Sadie, and our cat Mei.
Over the past year, I have spent most of my time working to get the Student Success Center up and running. It has been a huge undertaking, but it feels so gratifying to see the Center working as it was designed to work — with academic advisors and academic support staff working so closely together. We’re already seeing the benefits.
How do you think the Student Success Center will impact our students’ overall experience at Providence College?
The immediate goal is to enhance the overall quality of academic advising at the College. I’m not suggesting that academic advising at Providence College was bad. In fact, it has always been very good, but we are always looking for new and better ways to respond to the needs of our students. The hiring of professional advisors will help to alleviate the pressure on faculty who have heavy advising loads, and that should translate to a better overall academic advising experience for our students.
The SSC will also help to ensure that referrals from a professional advisor to an academic support provider (and vice versatile) are more seamless. Rather than pointing students to another building to find the support they need, staff can now walk students across the hall, ensuring that they end up in the right hands and that their needs are addressed more immediately.
What advice do you have for parents and families as to how they can assist their students to make the most of the services of the Student Success Center?
- Refer your students to us early. Whether out of pride or a false sense of security, some students wait too long to seek out academic support services, and by the time they finally do summon up the courage to ask for help, they need to dig themselves out of a serious hole. The earlier they come and ask for help, the more we can do to improve their chances for success.
- Let your students know that staff in the SSC are not there to judge them, even when things may not be going very well. Our goal is to meet students where they are, have honest conversations about the challenges that they are facing, and help them find alternatives or develop new strategies for success — whether in their individual courses or in their overall program of study.
- Encourage your students to come up and ask for an introduction to our services. Members of our staff would be happy to walk them around, show them where all the services are located, and explain how each one works. Equipped with that knowledge, students will know exactly where to turn if/when they want or need support.
Check out the Student Success Center website at: https://student-success-center.providence.edu/
