PATHWAYS REPLACED WITH ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER (ARC) AND STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER (SSC)

ABBY DENAULT, TRUMPET GUEST WRITER

There was a recent change to the Pathways Center, which has reorganized into  the Academic Resource Center (ARC) and the Student Success Center (SSC). 

Derek Solheim, associate dean of students, said he and Wartburg College leaders have been strategically planning over the past year for this shift. 

“One of the focus areas that emerged from our work was around how to create a stronger and more accessible student success model that works for you,” Solheim said. 

Stephanie Newsom has worked at Wartburg for 22 years and is now director of counseling services, which is part the SSC. 

A Student Success Center is “more of a one stop shop,” Newsom said. 

The locations include The Academic Resource Center (ARC) at Vogel Library 314, Peer Learning Lab at Vogel Library 204, Student Success Center at Saemann Student Center on the first floor. 

Solheim said the divisions within the center are as follows: The Student Success Center will be home to campus involvement, careers and internships, community engagement, counseling services, Dean of Students Office, exploring advising, first-year experience, international student services, Multicultural Student Services, Purpose and Vocation and Residential Life.”  

Along with that, Solheim explained that the ARC will include: student success advising, the peer learning lab, supplemental instruction and remediation, and disability and access services. 

Despite all these changes, the counseling services is in the same place, a decision that Newsom says involved careful contemplation and student input. 

“We did survey our clients from last year to see how they would feel to be in a kind of busier area like the Student Center. Our services haven’t changed and the students that see us hasn’t changed.” Newsom said. Newsom reaches out to students to use her services as well as all the services offered for free to students. 

“Sometimes there is a perception of: “I know these services are there, but does anyone really use them?” Students do use them,” Newsom said. “It is not just a certain grouping, it is males, females, student athletes, people in music, students who are heavily involved in academics, international students, students of color . . . you’re not alone.”