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The Student Success Center had its official opening celebration Tuesday afternoon. It opened in Mesa Vista Hall in the University Advisement and Enrichment Center.
Jennifer Gomez-Chavez, the director of UNM’s Office of Student Academic Success, said the program will serve as a “student one-stop” to offer help with admissions and enrollment services.
“This one-stop will be focused on helping students with any questions, any obstacles or challenges that they will encounter,” she said. “We will be there to help them through that.”
Gomez-Chavez said the center helps students confront University-related problems they may be facing from any angle.
“It’s personal, and it’s social, and it’s academic, too,” she said. “It’s a holistic approach to help students.”
In order to create the center, severalf programs were “re-aligned,” she said.
“The only cost was the remodeling cost,” she said. “But other than that it’s already-existing programs that have come together.”
Gomez-Chavez added that various University programs and departments contributed funds to help build the center.
“We also received funding from a Lumina Grant for Lumina Unidos Project to increase Latino student success,” she said. “So they’re a huge, huge contributor as well as the many, many partners that will be contributing to this effort.”
Melissa Vargas, the chief of staff and strategic planner for Office of the Provost, said renovations for the office cost about $500,000.
Vargas said she is “very proud” of the space.
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“This is an amazing place for students,” she said. “This is one of the most visited spaces on campus, so we’re just happy that we could allocate it to a place where students could actually come and get more help.”
University Registrar Alex Gonzalez said the center opened over the summer. He said the primary offices involved were the Office of the Provost and the Enrollment Management Division.
Gonzalez also said the office “advocates for students.”
“If for whatever reason a student may need assistance with a class or with an instructor, or need some financial help or is having a hard time, this is an office that can come in and assist the student,” he said.
Vanessa Harris, the director of University Advisement, said students have already come to the center for help.
“During the first week of school we had our little one-stop kiosk set up out here,” she said. “We were able to address over — if I’m not mistaken — 500 students that came in with simple questions.”
Harris said a lot of programs at UNM worked together in order to create the new center for students.
“It really was a collaboration of effort,” she said. “Those of us within our own departments used some of our resources. We wanted to make sure we had a nice place that would really have the students feel comfortable. And a good thing is a lot of the departments really chimed in and really wanted to help, so we had a lot of support above.”
Greg Heileman, UNM’s associate provost for curriculum, said he encourages students to approach the center if they need help.
“This is a place to come if you need assistance,” he said. “If you need help with anything we’ve got a one-stop here that you should come to.”
