The Academic Success Center has been part of California Baptist University’s offices since the late 1990s, but the center has recently changed its name to the Office of Student Success. The name change comes with a willingness to prioritize that which the office has always been about: student success both inside and outside the classroom.
The Office of Student Success, headed by Dr. Jeff Barnes, professor of history and government and dean of Student Success, offers many different resources for students, including tutoring, test proctoring, study areas, paper style workshops, mentoring and academic success seminars.
“Our vision is to provide the resources necessary to get students from their first day in the classroom all the way to commencement,” Barnes said.
The Office of Student Success has helped in transforming students’ grades. Barnes said he has seen students improve their grades dramatically, in some cases going from a grade point average of 0.9 to 3.87.
The office helps students interact with one another. Michael Osadchuk, coordinator of the Office of Student Success, said he considers one of the center’s greatest accomplishments to be the
relationships students build while helping each other with schoolwork, and through the mentoring program that encourages graduate students and faculty to work with students who might be struggling.
“The greatest success stories we’ve seen just one-on-one have come through mentoring services,” Osadchuk said. “To see students get tutored and get feedback from them and know that they’re getting help.”
The Office of Student Success also handles the affairs pertaining to study abroad.
“We see students go and have an amazing experience abroad, come back, complete their degree and complete CBU with this really positive experience,” Osadchuk said.
The office will also be hosting a Halloween-themed event called “Tales from the Transcript” at the end of October, decorated and focused on teaching students how to avoid the “death” of their academic careers.
Students are welcome to visit the Office of Student Success, located in Lancer Arms, during normal office hours.
