The Southeastern Center for Student Excellence sponsored Academic Wellness Week to help students get back on track towards academic success.
The Academic Wellness Fair and workshops were held on Tuesday, March 11 and Thursday, March 13 in the Grand Ballroom of the new Student Union. There were representatives from The Center for Student Excellence, University Housing, Financial Aid, University Counseling Center, Office of Student Engagement, Disability Services and Multicultural and International Affairs.
The free workshops were entitled “Making Your Time Count,” “Positively Powerful – Thinking Your Way to Success,” “Choosing a Major – It Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful” and “Don’t Lose Your TOPS…or Other Financial Aid for that Matter”.
“The idea behind Academic Wellness Week came about through a collaboration between the Center for Student Excellence and University Housing,” said Mindy Notariano, senior academic advisor at the Center for Student Excellence. “I met with Kay Maurin, Director of University Housing, and Amanda Robbins, assistant director of Residential Life, early in the semester to discuss a strategy for helping students who were struggling at mid-terms and to help them get back on the right track.”
“We realized that many students are not aware of the multitude of resources available on this campus for free. We decided that we wanted to offer a campus resource fair that we termed Academic Wellness Fair in line with the theme of the week,” said Notariano.
Freshman nursing major, Ale’Ice Williams said, “I just graduated from high school and I’m used to being in a class for a long period of time and being reminded different things. It’s different here and going to work on the weekends and being involved is really time-consuming and I barely have time to study what I really need. It [the workshop] helped me learn how to manage my time.”
Emily Moïse, mental health counselor at the University Counseling Center said, “We focus more on psychological aspects of self that can either impede or encourage academic success. One of the things that I’ve done is put together a strength-based, positive message for students that hopefully will help them identify their self schema, that’s their beliefs about themselves, and really bring awareness to some of the negative messages they send to themselves.”
Moïse seeks to empower students and help them think more positively. Her hope is that students will improve in both their academic and personal life.
The purpose of the workshop was to provide students with the proper resources and services they need to achieve wellness in all aspects of their lives.
“It’s to help students to understand that all areas are important to take into consideration, not just focusing on academics. If you’re having trouble emotionally, everything’s going to suffer. If you’re having trouble financially, things are going to suffer,” said Notariano.
For any student interested in more information or resources, contact Mindy Notariano with the Center for Student Excellence at [email protected] or the University Counseling Center at [email protected].