UHCL creates new division to support student success

As of Sept. 1, a new Student Success and Initiatives Group (SSI) is in effect at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). The SSI is a new division under the Office of the Provost created as a way to better address student success at UHCL.

The SSI is comprised of a multitude of campus offices already in existence. The Student Success Center, Math Center, Writing Center, Disability Services, Academic Transfer Advising, Distance Advising, Testing Center and University Academic Advising are all formally a part of the SSI with college advising under its umbrella.

Tim Richardson, former executive director of academic support services, was named as the interim associate vice president of student success and initiatives. Richardson said uniting these services under SSI is going to provide students with a more direct pathway to graduation.

“[The SSI] is going to look at the student pathway, and if there are potholes in the pathway, we will find a way to fix those potholes,” Richardson said. “If there are theoretically 15 steps a student needs to take, we want to make it into seven.”

One goal of SSI will be to break down silos of information at UHCL and create a conversation where student success initiatives can be discussed among all the key offices on campus.

“I refuse to accept that siloes are there, that just can’t happen in the field that we work in,” Richardson said. “Our students are too important to us for that to be accepted.”

Steven Berberich, senior vice president of academic affairs and provost, said the SSI will have an extended reach at UHCL to help further the university’s mission.

“It will enable a more holistic approach by connecting faculty, peers and advisors with students in ways that help them grow beyond academics,” Berberich said. “I believe this initiative aligns perfectly with UHCL’s student-centered mission.”

The SSI is still in the planning stage as a course of action is being developed.

“We ultimately want to create a bigger and more pronounced difference for students,” Richardson said. “After the planning stage is over, we are going to get to implement all of our initiatives, and that is the exciting part.”

Once the implementation part starts, Richardson said that student partnerships and feedback will be needed to help assess what students need the most.

“I can sit up here in my office and think about everything that students will need, but the best way to find out is from the students themselves,” Richardson said. “It is important to know that not one person owns student success, everybody should own the process.”

Allen Cox, director of the Math Center, said SSI will promote a greater synergy among offices on campus.

“The SSI has connected the Math Center with the advising offices and other places that students have a frequent amount of contact with,” Cox said. “It allows for more frequent information sharing among offices.”

The advising offices for the four colleges at UHCL are also a part of SSI, but in a more dotted-line coordination, Richardson said.

“The four college advising offices are coordinated in the SSI so that consistency will be a top priority at UHCL,” Richardson said. “They are in the conversation to help elevate the student success initiatives so that we can create a stronger and wider net for students.”

Bernadina Gonzales Streeter, senior academic adviser in the College of Education, said that being involved in the SSI grants college advising offices the opportunity to collaborate with other offices on campus in a more formalized way.

“Advising fits into every aspect because we work together as a team with other offices and [the SSI] presents a more formalized structure to work together,” Streeter said. “It has been formalized so that the conversation can be open between offices on campus so that people don’t work against each other on accident.”

Streeter also said that being involved in the SSI is going to help students because now UHCL has an action plan to break down the silos of information.

SSI will be working collaboratively with organizations outside of UHCL such as EAB (formerly known as the Education Advisory Board) and Houston Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) to help specifically with the advising sections. Richardson said the outside organizations will bring multiple benefits to the university.

“The hope is that with the implementation of these organizations, we can get out in front of issues before they become issues,” Richardson said.

Berberich also believes connecting and working in collaboration with these organizations will help the university benefit students.

“Advisors, faculty, chairs, deans and administrators will use [the systems] to help support students in their academic endeavors,” Berberich said.

Richardson said that with the development of the SSI, students can expect to see more consistency at the university and see an administration that cares.

“We want students to have a phenomenal experience at UHCL and gain a great education,” Richardson said. “More importantly, we want them to see that we care about their success and the development of the SSI is a serious commitment to get student success mobilized.”