Creighton University’s Success Center hosted its Student Success Week, which started on Monday, Feb. 17 and ended on Friday, Feb. 21. The Success Center hosted a variety of events targeting students to engage them in the services the Success Center provides.
Creighton’s Success Center worked with other Jesuit schools for Student Success Week. The Success Center hopes to make this event a national movement.
On Monday, the Success Center encouraged first year students to nominate an “Iggy.” The award goes to “those who have been instrumental in helping make a first-year student’s college experience a success.”
Tuesday, students had the opportunity to plan for pre-professional success with the Center for Advising Resources and Support, or CARS.
Wednesday, the success center provided different snacks in the first-year residence halls: “Donuts in Deglman,” “Guac in Graves” and “Sweets in Swanson.”
Thursday was “First-Gen Dress for Success: Billy’s Clothing Closet & Career Fair Prep Event,” which was later open to all students.
Friday was the All-Majors Spring Career Fair and a TRIO Student Support Services Scholarship Workshop.
The All-Majors Spring Career Fair lasted from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Mike and Josie Harper Center Ballroom. At the fair, over 90 employers and organizations were recruiting Creighton students. Included were CHI Health, Mutual of Omaha, Union Pacific and Children’s Nebraska.
The Success Center has three main services: the Office of Academic Success, The Office of Student and Family Support and the Success Center itself.
“Our goal at student success is to work one-on-one with students, to manage their hopes and their dreams and to make those a reality,” Dr. Wayne Young, the Vice Provost of Student Success, said.
The Success Center attempts to provide high touch support for students who visit.
The Success Center is now working on its Strive to Thrive campaign.
“It’s a fun campaign, because we want to see students thrive,” Young said.
This campaign provides students with connections to the Success Center services. “What we’re trying to do is remind students that college is a fun but…turns-and-twists type of journey. We’re here to help them thrive,” Young said. “It’s a campaign aimed at helping students ask for support.”
To promote the message about Strive to Thrive, people in the Success Center wear t-shirts and buttons with “Strive to Thrive” on Wednesday. For the campaign, the Success Center is also sending letters and gifts to students, as well as letters to parents.
“Since Strive to Thrive has been going, I think we’ve already had around 80-100 outreaches, and it’s only been going for about two to three weeks,” Young said.
The Success Center is also celebrating the current sophomore class for being the first class to achieve a 94% retention rate.