November 2023
Welcome to our Fall ’23 Institute for Student Success Newsletter!
It’s hard to believe we are careening towards 2024 already, but before the cold weather settles in, let’s take a quick look at what has been happening since spring. Further below you’ll see some highlights from each of our departments in the ISS, but first, a few newsworthy items that span the campus:
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We now have 11 offices represented in our referral space on mWS! We are growing our Coordinated Care Network week by week!
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All Advisors are documenting academic alert follow-ups with students with new Radio Buttons on appointment summaries and new Note Reasons! Capturing follow-up to alerts in this way will help us to know what interventions are happening and how effective they are.
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Advisors are now able to text important action-nudging messages to students on the platform! Be sure to follow the Texting Policy.
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A comprehensive Alerts and Interventions Guide has been circulated. It will continue to reflect changes and improvements in our processes over time.
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This fall, as of October 20, 454 students have had 1,087 tutoring sessions provided by 135 Tutors.
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We have 208 Tutors on Knack. Please recommend high achieving students to tutor using the faculty recommendation form
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712 courses are covered by 202 Tutors with Active Skills
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Courses with the most sessions included: BMS 507 (122 students), CHEM 403 (72 students), ADMN 502 (26 students) and BIOL 411 (22 students); followed by ECON 402 (17 students), PSYCH 402 (14 students) CHEM 545 (13 students), ANSC 511 (12 students) ECON 401 (11 students), and BIOL 528 (10 students)
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91.9% of all sessions were conducted in a 1-on-1 setting, and 25.2% were conducted online in Knack’s virtual classroom.
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49.2% of all sessions occurred outside of the traditional M-F, 9 AM-5PM time range.
On Wednesday, November 8 in MUB 338/340 from 2:00-4:00 PM we celebrated National First-Generation College Day! President Dean addressed the students, faculty, and staff in attendance, and we heard from two amazing students: senior Jill Mundung and junior Kay McGeehan. There was food, networking, and prizes in honor of all of our UNH Trailblazers. This year’s celebration was the culmination of weeklong activities and hours of planning on behalf of so many partners across campus. See the list of partners, activities, and prizes on our webpage: First-Gen College Celebration
Thanks to the McDonough Family Program Fund for supporting our first-gen college students and to our Senators’ and Congresspeople’s offices for showing their continued support as well!
And please always remember,
the third Friday of the month is…
Pączki with Pérez
(Doughnuts with Dawna)
Every third Friday , 8 AM – 9 AM
Drop-in Office Hour
(Hood House Rm 111) or Request a Zoom link!
Ask me anything, or just come to connect!
In this issue you will find:
Updates from the CONNECT Program
The Challenging Ourselves in a New and Nurturing Environment by Coming Together (CONNECT) Program was founded in 1994 through a partnership with the Diversity Support Coalition (DSC), the late Dr. Roger M. Beattie (Special Assistant to the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management), and Dr. Judy Spiller (Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Support Services). CONNECT was designed to help students that have been historically excluded from higher education (People of Color, first-generation and/or low-income/high financial need) thrive in their transition to and through college.
From August 14-25, 2023, CONNECT hosted its 29th annual summer bridge programs to help first-years transition to UNH. CONNECT STEM is a two-week, donor-funded program for 40 COLSA and CEPS majors. CONNECT Classic is a weeklong program for COLA, CHHS, and PAUL majors funded by the university. Participation is voluntary, free, and room and board are covered. Students learned about campus resources, enrolled in “Mini courses, ” and participated in a variety of social activities. CONNECT first year students are matched with a Peer Mentor (based on college major) who will work yearlong to support their academic, personal, and professional goals. A summer report is available for those interested in learning more about the summer program.
1st Year Population Data (2023)
Forty four first-year students (out of a total of one hundred and ninety students)
| First-Generation | 26 |
| Low-income | 22 |
| Female | 36 |
| Male | 8 |
| Asian | 10 |
| Black or African American | 4 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 11 |
| Non-Hispanic 2 or more races | 2 |
| Non-Resident Alien | 1 |
| White | 16 |
| In state | 24 |
| Average HS GPA | 3.54 |
In addition, the summer 2023 edition of the UNH Magazine article titled “Who Got You Through” highlighted the power of mentoring in the lives of the greater UNH Community. CONNECT Program and several campus partners were included in the article.
Fall 2023: CONNECT has planned a variety of social events (in partnership with campus partners) to help students find their sense of belonging and community during the academic year. CONNECT will collaborate with Career and Professional Services to design an Alumni Panel in spring 2024. Socials for this semester include Coppal House Farm Corn Maze, First Generation Celebration Week, Connexgiving (annual Thanksgiving-themed dinner), and Karaoke and Mocktails Night.
Contact Info: For questions related to the UNH CONNECT Program, please contact the Coordinator Funmi Oyekunle (she/her pronouns) at funmi.oyekunle@unh.edu or 603-862-2221. CONNECT is on Instagram @unhconnectprogram.
Second Annual Undeclared Week
The University Advising Center held its second annual Undeclared Week September 18-22, 2023. Undeclared freshmen were required to attend one event as a COLA 401 assignment. Popular events from last year were repeated, but some programming was also changed to enhance engagement and value for students. Most notably the Resource Fair was expanded and held in the MUB this year. We were joined by Career and Professional Success, representatives from COLA, CHHS, PAUL, COLSA and CEPS, plus the Center for Academic Resources, the Connors Writing Center, and Mathematics Assistance Center. Seventy-five students attended the event, and foot traffic remained steady with many students holding meaningful conversations with multiple campus partners. The UAC also partnered with every department in Hood House for our Carnival themed walk-through event this year! Career and Professional Success, New Student Programs, the Institute for Student Success, the CONNECT program, Military & Veteran Services and McNair Scholars were all highly valued participants and were kind enough to dedicate their afternoon to greet and share information with attendees. This week would not be possible without the help and support of our campus partners, and we want to thank Career and Professional Success once more for hosting our careers day again at McConnell Hall. While we strive to provide meaningful content each day, the best events during Undeclared Week are the ones where we’re able to bring UNH resources together!
TAs trained as Writing Fellows by the WAC program
This fall we piloted our first broad training for Teaching Assistants. A cohort of grad students in the MCBS department were training by our lovely Graduate Assistants in the Writing Across the Curriculum program (Rachel Roy, PhD student in Composition Studies, and Elizabeth Drummey, PhD student in English Literature). Rachel and Elizabeth developed a workshop that trained TAs in how to provide writing feedback to students.
We welcome any faculty from all departments across campus to contact us for assistance and support in their writing curriculum. We can provide training for your TAs or work with your department in providing you with a writing fellow if you don’t already have one. For more information, faculty can contact unh.writing.programs@unh.edu
Helpful Reminders from CFAR
