Priority 3: Provide a Transformative VSU Student Experience that Supports the Holistic Development of Students

Our goal is to facilitate and promote leadership development, career readiness and civic engagement programs.

We will continue to support and grow our student centered Academic Center for excellence.  ACE will offer further support for our students, with close relationships that develop between professors and students, in academic settings, as well as through our advising programs, continue to preserve our credibility as Virginia’s Opportunity University.  We will transform The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) is an innovative hub where Trojans “embrace and engage in transformative educational opportunities throughout their academic journey.”

ACE will assist students to navigate their early experience on our campus. ACE is a full-service center structured to provide students with the sustenance and resources necessary to promote character building, academic excellence and career goal achievements.  The Academic Center for Excellence empowers students to embrace and engage in transformative educational opportunities throughout their academic journey. ACE advisors are available to support and encourage students throughout their academic career. 

 

In addition, we will grow our number of academic support counselors and graduation specialists in each College.  Our annual and periodic reviews of all academic and administrative and educational support programs will further ensure the academic support and success of our students. Recognizing that the needs of our students are as unique as the students themselves, we will actively engage all students through a high-tech and high touch tailored services based on profile analysis.  This will ensure that we are offering the highest quality assistance to each individual student based on their personal needs and learning style.  In essence, we will rethink our approach to pedagogy as it relates to the total student experience as we work to improve engagement, experience, retention, and graduation.

Priority 3 Objectives:

Implement student support and co-curricular programming that fosters student success, civic engagement and a culture of global and servant-leadership

Strategic Actions

  • Engage alumni and industrial partners to financially support student paid internships
  • Develop innovative co-curricular support services and educational activities to support the needs in each academic department
  • Utilize internal and national surveys and other assessment methodology that identify the specific needs of the student population, and identify services that address their needs based upon high impact practices
  • Enhance residential living/learning programs and activities
  • Increase internships, international studies, and study abroad experiences related to academic programs for national and global leadership experience
  • Increase the number of student opportunities for community service, civic engagement, and service learning to foster a culture of servant-leadership among our students
  • Expand the Honors Program to establish a Honors College
  • Leverage Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension to Expand undergraduate and graduate research opportunities for VSU students

Implement an inclusive student financial support and advisement infrastructure

Strategic Actions

  • Review and enhance processes for student financial aid awards, registration, and validation to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
  • Offer additional support programs in financial literacy, awareness, and responsibility
  • Integrate increased access to academic advisement through the use of technology
  • Provide professional development for advisors and faculty advisors to support student matriculation

Develop programs and activities that support student safety, and their physical, mental and emotional health

Strategic Actions

  • Review and enhance a university-wide safety plan
  • Initiate a strong integrated health, counseling, and mentoring support structure
  • Provide faculty and staff training to develop skills necessary to identify and support students’ needs

Improve student physical spaces to support housing, recreation, and co-curricular activities

Strategic Actions

  • Develop student-centered spaces to support extracurricular and co-curricular activities
  • Enhance students’ living and learning physical spaces