When it comes to student success initiatives on college campuses, a crucial voice is often missing from the conversation: the students themselves. On March 13, 2025, the University of Akron took a significant step toward changing this paradigm by hosting the inaugural “Socializing Student Success to Students” workshop, facilitated by the Alliance Engagement Team with Nichole Mann as the lead presenter.
“The University of Akron’s first year task force was an ideal team to launch the Socializing Student Success to Students workshop with,” explains Mann. “They have a deep commitment to student success, and a clear path in mind to operationalize the learnings of the workshop.”
The workshop brought together over 30 participants from seven student success teams, all part of the University of Akron’s first-year experience task force. This collaborative effort was coordinated by Bill Torgler, Executive Director of the Student Success Center, and Fedearia Nicholson-Sweval, Vice Provost for Student Pathways and Dean of the Williams Honors College.
University of Akron staff participate in the Socializing Student Success to Students workshop on March 13, 2025.
“The ‘Socializing Student Success to Students’ workshop was incredibly valuable for our First-Year Experience Taskforce and other campus teams,” reflects Dr. Nicholson-Sweval. “It provided us with the tools to develop student success strategies that truly incorporate student voices from the very beginning. Too often, initiatives are created without fully considering student perspectives, but by embedding their perspectives at the onset, we can create more effective and impactful student success initiatives.”
Challenging Traditional Approaches
The session highlighted how student success strategies typically follow a top-down socialization process—from originators to leadership to faculty/staff to community stakeholders—with students noticeably absent from the equation.
The traditional approach assumes students will naturally understand that new initiatives benefit them, without providing compelling evidence or engaging students in the process. This often results in:
– Implementation announcements focused on logistics rather than value
– Individual rather than scaled approaches to communicating benefits
– Information sharing during “crisis modes” when students are less receptive
– Communication gaps where only students who actively seek assistance receive guidance
A New Framework for Student Engagement
The workshop introduced a comprehensive framework for integrating student voices at multiple stages of initiative development and implementation:
| First Awareness: Bringing student perspectives into the conversation *before* final decisions are made about how students will experience the initiative. This phase focuses on understanding how students consume information and what evidence resonates most strongly with them. | Decision Points: Offering opportunities for student feedback during final decision-making processes, asking questions like “If we moved forward in this way, would you—and your classmates—react as we expect?” |
| Ongoing Engagement: Creating continuous feedback mechanisms, adapting messaging for diverse audiences, and planning multiple touchpoints that reach students before they experience stress. | Peer-to-Peer Opportunities: Engaging students in delivering messages and incorporating authentic student stories into communications. |
From Theory to Practice
During the interactive planning session, each team applied the framework to their specific initiatives, developing student-centered socialization plans that included:
– Key messages and student benefits
– Strategic timing and communication channels
– Student engagement points across multiple phases
– Implementation timelines with clear milestones
– RACI model approach (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for next steps
The most important takeaway from the workshop is the inclusion of students as early as possible in influencing the strategy for executing and communicating student success initiatives. It represents a paradigm shift from treating student engagement as an afterthought to making it a concurrent process with socializing initiatives to the rest of the campus community.
Looking Ahead
As part of the Complete College Accelerator project, which includes participating schools from 18 states, the University of Akron teams will continue refining their student success plans and will report on their progress later this spring through the first-year task force.
Alliance Engagement Directors (L-R) Jonathan Gowin (Northeast), Jamia Stokes (Southeast), Nichole Mann (Midwest), and Jennifer Torres (West).
This workshop represents a significant evolution in how institutions approach student success, recognizing that the most effective strategies aren’t just designed for students but developed with them, ultimately creating more inclusive and successful initiatives.
“We learned, as we’d hoped, that this workshop can be generalized to a wide range of settings,” Mann notes, “This can be used anywhere from from large multi-project teams like at the University of Akron to multi-institution communities of practice, and even small teams focused on a single project. It is a highly versatile offering that can serve the CCA Alliance in many ways.”
Professional Development Opportunities
The “Socializing Student Success to Students” workshop is available as a professional development opportunity through Complete College America, along with other targeted workshops focused on student success strategies. Institutions interested in bringing this transformative experience to their campus can contact a member of the Alliance Engagement team for more information about scheduling, customization options, and best practices for implementation.
