Strategy 3 : Wellbeing & Success
Increase student well-being and success across the educational experience
Increase student well-being and success across the educational experience
Well-being is a foundational element of student success, with a direct positive impact on students’ academic achievement, social interactions, and short-term and long-term goal attainment. As affirmed by the American Council on Education, attentiveness to student well-being and mental health “helps shape healthier, happier, more educated, and productive campuses and graduates.”
At UGA, Student Affairs provides campus leadership for a broad range of clinical and non-clinical programs, resources, and services to promote student well-being and success. Student Affairs efforts directly foster the holistic development of students, including the domains of mental health, wellness, and financial literacy. Student Affairs also supports students through key times of transition, ensuring students can overcome challenges and have the fullest opportunity to succeed.
With this plan, Student Affairs aims to create a more active, healthy, and successful student body. In growing the reach and effectiveness of existing programs and communications, creating new initiatives, integrating efforts across Student Affairs, more fully utilizing data, and tailoring approaches for specific populations, Student Affairs will play an even more proactive, critical role in student well-being and success.
With this plan, Student Affairs will launch an initiative to:
With this plan, Student Affairs will launch a new department to:
Some ways that Student Affairs will measure success of this strategy include continued gains in:
To lead the well-being and success initiative, Student Affairs is creating a new Well-being and Success Network, which will involve, among others, leaders of the Health Center, Garth Russo; Student Care and Outreach, Beau Seagraves; Housing, Linda Kasper; Rec Sports, Keith Wenrich; and the Disability Resource Center; Erin Benson, who will all assume new responsibilities related to the Network. This team, along with yet-to-be-identified Student Affairs and campus colleagues, faculty partners, public health experts, and students, will work together to empower and support students to improve their own well-being and success—and that of their groups and peers.
To lead the student transitions initiative, Student Affairs is refocusing existing staff and resources through the merger of the Center for Leadership and Service and the Center for Student Activities and Involvement, to create a new Department of Student Transitions, which will provide new dedicated support, in coordination with campus partners, for key times of student transition across a student’s time at UGA.
Student Transitions will be an independent Student Affairs department and report to the Associate VP for Student Affairs, Michele Howard. A search for a director to lead this department and initiative is expected to begin later this spring. The director will serve on the Student Affairs Leadership Team.
The other positions in Student Transitions will be filled by staff resultant from the merger of CLS and CSAI.
Physical space for the department is still to be determined, but is likely to be in the Tate Student Center.
Student Transitions will formally launch on July 1.
Click here to see the Student Transitions Org Chart Click here to view the SA Leadership Team org chart