A small crowd gathered in Sunwatcher Clubhouse for the second Next Steps to Success session, one of two “tracks” under the Steps to Success program, sponsored by the Office of Equity, Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs. Syreeta Greene, director of equity, inclusion and multicultural affairs, created the five session programs for students who would not be able to receive this “valuable information” in other settings.

“[We’re here] to ensure that students are getting valuable information that they may not otherwise receive because they’re not in some sort of program,” Greene said. “So the idea is to try to fill that gap, fill that void for students who may not be attached to a program on campus like SSS or Priddy [Priddy Scholars] or some other program on campus.” 

First Steps to Success serves first year students while Next Steps to Success serves sophomores and up. Each session typically lasts about an hour and 30 minutes, but ended early due to low attendance. While the rainy weather may have been a factor, Greene said the program is still new and the department is working on pushing awareness of this new program.

“It’s definitely more to be desired, so we’re gonna look at ways to increase student interest,” Greene said. 

Another reason for low attendance is that students tend to seek out programs when they believe they are struggling. The students know when they need help and the resources to help them, but they do not seek them out beforehand.

“You know sometimes students — as people — we are not always good at being proactive, we are reactive,” Greene said. “Sometimes we’ll do programs or seek help and all of that after something has happened — after we get a bad grade, after we’ve had a bad semester as opposed to being proactive and involving ourselves in workshops and sessions that can help prepare us.”