Lion Scholars Program, Preparing Students for Success
Despite already being a month into the summer term, Academic Success Center (ASC) staff at the University of 香蕉视频APP 鈥 Fort Smith are busy helping prepare incoming
students with what they can expect when classes begin on Monday, August 21.
Initiatives like Mane Event and programs like Lion Scholars have allowed ASC academic coaches Amber Robinett and Derek Hill to meet with students
face-to-face, helping answer questions, address concerns, and ensure they are prepared
to begin their UAFS education.
鈥淲e are meeting with these students well before they ever start their first class
to make sure that they know what to expect and have the tools to be successful,鈥 Hill
said. 鈥淲e want them to feel confident and ready for this new chapter in their life.鈥
Lion Scholars is a UAFS program designed to assist incoming first-year students in
making a successful transition to college life. The program enters its third year,
welcoming students who could benefit from additional support based on their high school
GPA or test scores.
Assistant Provost for Student Success and Retention, Dr. Blake Johnson, says the Lion
Scholar program directly correlates to the UAFS Strategic Plan as 鈥渁 proof of concept
to show we can take a group of students, prioritize purposeful supports, and improve
outcomes.鈥 Johnson continued by stating, 鈥淚n the Lion Scholars program, students are
getting up front, holistic supports that address some of the most common barriers
to student persistence.鈥
Through the Lion Scholars program, those barriers are broken by providing each Lion
Scholar with a personal success team that consists of their ROAR First-Year Advisor,
an academic coach like Robinett or Hill, a financial advisor, and foster greater engagement
across the university.
鈥淎dditionally, we鈥檝e added curricular components to create something closer to a learning
community model, and this has led to improvements with our academic areas in terms
of mentoring and course delivery,鈥 Johnson said.
Lion Scholars will enroll in either the English Summer Bridge Program, designated
sections of Composition I, Composition II, Speech Communications, and designated sections
of Personal Finance Applications. Along the way, each success team will be there to
support their student.
However, the support Lion Scholars receive doesn鈥檛 just end with the completion of
a student鈥檚 first year at UAFS.
鈥淲e are here to continually support our Lion Scholars throughout their journey at
UAFS. We will celebrate their successes, big or small, and work through the challenges
together as a team,鈥 Robinett said.
As the next academic term approaches, academic coaches will continue to meet with
students and support incoming first-year students who qualify as Lion Scholars by
forming effective habits, creating plans for success, developing study schedules,
and setting achievable goals.
- Tags:
- Academic Success Center
- Student Success and Retention
- Lion Scholars
- ROAR First Year Advising Center
- Academic Coaching
- Financial Aid