FOSTERING student success

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Lakehead University is continually striving to provide students with the support they need to achieve their educational goals and to empower them to make a positive difference in their communities.

In keeping with this goal, Lakehead has recently made significant improvements to the way in which Academic Support Services are being offered to students at its Thunder Bay campus.

For the first time, a range of student services, including academic advising, career advising, cooperative education, orientation and first-year experience, leadership programming, and academic support and tutoring, are being offered in one central location. That place, appropriately named the Student Success Centre (SSC), enables knowledgeable staff to meet the unique needs of each individual student.

"We're taking an integrated approach that encourages the development of the whole individual," says Marian Ryks-Szelekovszky, Lakehead's vice-provost, student affairs. "And we're providing this service at a single location instead of asking students to move from pillar to post."

Heather Doyle, director of the Student Success Centre, has been championing the move to incorporate "appreciative advising" into academic services at Lakehead. Appreciative advising is based on positive psychology and promotes a strengths-based approach to working with students, says Doyle. She and her colleagues help students develop an academic plan for their time at Lakehead by asking open-ended questions that help each student articulate his or her dreams and goals.

"We're asking questions such as why they chose to attend university, what career decisions they need to make, and how they plan to achieve short- and long-term goals." Advisors encourage students to reflect, and to think intentionally about their time at Lakehead and what they hope to accomplish.

Doyle and her colleagues have also launched a new leadership program that makes it easier for students to become engaged in the Lakehead University community. The LEAD (Leadership Experience and Development) program invites students to choose a particular stream, for example, academic support, student support, promotion, or event planning. In addition, they can participate in skill development workshops run by the Student Success Centre throughout the year. By taking on various volunteer tasks and assignments in each stream - everything from guiding campus tours, helping out during Orientation, and organizing job fairs - the students have fun while building confidence and developing extra-curricular interests. Experience that will benefit them later on in their careers.

This year, at both its Thunder Bay and Orillia campuses, Lakehead University is launching a new Co-curricular Record program that will track the extent of an individual student's engagement in campus life, whether that is, for example, playing varsity sports, working as a residence assistant, or taking a leadership role in one of the many campus clubs.

"The Co-curricular Record is a tool that can help confirm how well-rounded a student is," says Ryks-Szelekovszky. "Many universities are creating these types of records and they can be useful to students applying for jobs or positions in graduate schools."

Mitch Keene is a Lakehead Education student who now works as a student assistant at the Student Success Centre in Thunder Bay. As a transfer student, who came to Lakehead's Thunder Bay campus from another Ontario university, he knows what it's like to need help.

"I want new and returning students to be as satisfied with their Lakehead experiences as I am," he says. "Working in the Student Success Centre has deepened my understanding of how the University operates. Every student that comes in to the office has a unique background. Regardless of whether they are a transfer student, a mature student, a first-generation student, or an international student, each one deserves to be served in a holistic way."