by J.T. Buchheit
News Editor
jbuchhei@jccc.edu
The Student Success and Engagement Center is devoted to helping students in whatever ways they can. Dr. Randy Weber, the vice president of the department, is an integral part in accomplishing this goal.
Weber has been in his current position at the college for six months, but he has a history in education and was aware of the college’s reputation.
“I worked in Kansas at another institution for 10 years, left, and went to Colorado and worked there for about three years, so I was very aware of Johnson County Community College and the goals it had for its students and their success,” Weber said. “So when this position opened up, I knew it had a lot of opportunities to support students and their goals, so I wanted to pursue it to meet my personal goals,” Weber continued.
The Student Success and Engagement Center has multiple programs to aid students, such as the Veteran Services, International Immigrant Student Services and the Hiersteiner Child Development Center. Every program is designed to aid students in any troubles they might have.
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“A lot of what we do deals with the support for students that occur outside the classroom,” Weber said. “We range from students who have interest in their application, and we have a recruitment and admissions team that works on getting students to apply. Our branch, primarily from the service side, has what we call Student Success and Learner Engagement. The Success side has admissions and recruitment, records, financial aid, testing services for students… the Learner Engagement side is where our faculty counselors are, who handle academic advising and other academic issues. Access services, for students who have an identified disability, are in there as well. Intercollegiate athletics, as well as the child development center also report through the branch.
The Learner Engagement section of the department also helps students participate in activities around campus, like Student Senate, E-Cav Radio and the Golden Girls Dance Team.
“Our performance aptitude shows that students who are engaged in their campus experience are going to be more successful in college… We have a lot of clubs and activities that students can participate in, and I strongly encourage students to visit our Clubs & Organizations department on the third floor in the Commons to find out more about ways to get involved in specific clubs,” Weber said.
Although the Student Success and Education department has worked very well in helping students with any problems they might face, as well as getting them more involved with clubs and organizations around campus, Weber believes the department can always strive to improve.
“What we’re spending a lot of time on right now is working to make a clear pathway for students to succeed. Over time, we’ve accumulated a lot of great opportunities for students to succeed, but now we’re looking at students who are having a difficult time determining which opportunity or support is best for them and their situation,” Weber said. “So what we’re working on right now is aligning effective strategies for intended students and making sure that clear and concise communication is in place for them.”