A new Student Success Corridor — focusing on being a one-stop shop for student services — has been created within the new Wilson Hall addition, North Foundation Hall and the Oakland Center.

The departments involved with this effort are all focused on supporting students in a variety of ways. In Wilson Hall, there is the Academic Success Center (formerly known as the Tutoring Center), Disability Support Services and Undergraduate Admissions.

North Foundation Hall has the most departments: Career Services, Center for Multicultural Initiatives, Enrollment Management, First Year Advising Center (FYAC), Gender and Sexuality Center, Orientation and New Student Programs, Office of the Registrar and Student Financial Services.

In the Oakland Center, the departments are Dean of Students, Golden Grizzlies Pantry, Office for Student Involvement and Student Technology Center. 

The project is led by the Division of Student Affairs and Diversity and it has been in planning for three years.

“When it came to this corridor, we said ‘Okay, with the Wilson Hall project, can we create an innovative, modernized front door to the university for potential students and current students?’” Glenn McIntosh, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, said.

“This provides an opportunity for us to have really a one-stop shop for all of those needs,” he added.

McIntosh said even though promoting and advertising is still going on for the corridor, they are already seeing the number of students who are accessing these offices. Another outcome of the effort is because some offices have moved, like the Gender and Sexuality Center, which allows expansion of the Pantry and Grizz Garments.

A lot of these departments have seen bigger spaces to work with, and one which may have seen the most change is the Academic Success Center (ASC) which has had a name change but also a bigger office space.

Director Deborah Cash has already noticed an improved level of collaboration and knowledge within the areas of the corridor.

“So everyone that works in that corridor knows more about support services and can help students get to where they need to be,” she said. “It definitely is going to help referrals for students, because the staff is so aware of where to send them and what the services are about.”

“I refer some of our student staff here to use those types of support and now that we’re all in the know about the location we can get them to the right spot,” Cash added.

McIntosh is hoping services like those of the ASC will also help new high school students affected by the pandemic embrace the challenges of the college education process. This early help and experience will also be able to translate into career opportunities in the future.

“The endgame here is that you want to put students in the pipeline for career success so as early as we can get them in that pipeline,” McIntosh said. “Then [Career Services] explain to them about internships and co-op and job opportunities throughout their college career and that should lead to that person being better prepared for the workforce.”

The departments involved have reportedly been very positive of these changes, with McIntosh saying the departments are seeing their peers and exchanging ideas.

“In that exchange, this innovation and creativity that occurs around programs and services that impact the Oakland experience for our students. And so they’ve been pretty excited,” he said.

One of the changes the ASC is most happy about is their new space inside of Wilson Hall. Because of the space, they now have more study space for students as well as computers and offices for online meetings in between classes.

“It is such a beautiful space; the view is phenomenal. It’s private and welcoming,” Cash said. “The whole culture and environment is about student success.”

The new space has allowed departments with more opportunities to help students, as in the ASC’s case they now have Sunday hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. as well as consistent sessions on time management and study skills.