By William H. Kelly III
Jackson State University’s Division of Student Success hosts its inaugural Student Success Summit: Bridging Silos to Increase Equity & Student Success on June 27-28 at the Jackson Convention Complex.
The summit builds upon JSU’s Elevate Strategic Plan goal, entitled Student Success, by highlighting and showcasing the many areas of the institution that focuses on student success.
“Our goal is to become one of the most student-centered universities in the country by implementing relevant and appropriate student success strategies, developing students holistically, and ensuring student return on investment,” said Mitchell Shears, Ed.D., JSU associate vice president for Student Success and executive director of Title III.
The program will include presentations by JSU faculty and staff, ranging from the Department of Public Safety, Academic Advisement Center, registered student organization advisors, and more. Each will present on the ways various departments and offices are contributing and catering to students, while also increasing the collaborative efforts from all campus constituents.
“We have a plethora of services at Jackson State, so sometimes you need a refresher to hear from all of the individuals conveniently gathered in one location. When you have the large faculty and staff population that Jackson State has, it can be easy to forget all of the services and resources that are readily available to you,” said Shears. “What we want to do is bridge those silos by putting those tools or resources in our faculty and staff toolbox. They may not use all of the tools or resources at one time, but they’ll have them and be able to share them with students as they matriculate at JSU.”
Presentations are 45 minutes long, with five concurrent sessions happening alongside general and luncheon speaker sessions. Attendees have the opportunity to select which sessions they attend to “hear from higher education leaders and discover ways [JSU] can help build a student-centered bridge from start to finish.”
Guest speakers of the event include JSU alum, Military Veteran, Musician and Award Winning Comedian, Rita Brent; Vice President of Student Affairs at Alabama A&M University, Braque Talley, PhD.; and President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, Aaron Thompson, PhD. Thompson’s book, ‘Thrive! Your Guide to Success in College and Beyond,’ is being introduced to JSU’s University Success courses.
The featured student speaker will be Maisie Brown, JSU’s first Truman Scholar. Another featured speaker will be JSU alum and parent, Tina E. Grimes, who travels the world teaching organizations and universities the ‘Art of Connecting.’ Following the global pandemic, silos became the norm amongst organizations and social, community-based entities. The ‘Art of Connecting’ presentation is geared towards learning one’s own connecting styles and how to recognize the styles of others to greatly increase the ability to connect.
“The success level is going to be multifaceted throughout both days,” said Shears. “We’re hoping that attendees will hear from an author who is actively helping students to be successful their first year, from students who want to talk to faculty and staff about their vision for student success, and then looking at alums who are successful and share how they matriculated through their program at Jackson State to achieve that success.”
The event is open to JSU students, faculty and staff, and Jackson community members are welcome. Space is limited to 200 registrants and is nearing full capacity. To attend the event, please register here.
Media contact: William H. Kelly III, william.h.kelly@jsums.edu
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