Department website: https://www.kysu.edu/student-success-and-retention/student-success/index.php

The Student Success Center at Kentucky State University is dedicated to advancing the academic success of our undergraduate students through a wide range of programs, services, events, and curricula. By employing an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, we aim to promote exploration, engagement, and achievement. We cultivate productive academic habits and provide personalized advising, success coaching, learning support, and impactful programming to support student transitions. Our outcomes-oriented philosophy ensures a seamless, robust, and comprehensive educational support system that significantly enhances undergraduate academic success and retention. We are committed to empowering students to confidently declare an academic major, fostering personal growth and development to become global citizens, and facilitating successful progression toward degree completion.

Student Success includes Transition Services, KSU Accelerate, Undergraduate Advising, and the Thorobred Learning Center.

Transition Services 

Transition Services provides support to help freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors navigate campus and college life. This encompasses developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating transitional programs such as workshops, seminars, and peer mentoring initiatives.

Transition Services will: 

• Work closely with faculty and staff to facilitate student connections with KSU staff and faculty members.
• Establish avenues for student engagement in campus life through organizations and events aimed at building community and fostering connections.
• Match students with peer mentors to encourage positive relationships and peer support for addressing academic and personal challenges.
• Offer seminars and activities designed to bolster learning, promote critical thinking, and empower students to become active, engaged learners.

Transition Services includes: 

• BRED Week
• Financial literacy workshops
• Intro to University Learning
• BredConnect Mentors
• BredTalks
• Academic Support
• KSU Accelerate

Students will:

• Learn about their rights and responsibilities as a KSU student. 
• Participate in engagement events to assist in community building. 
• Connect with faculty and staff
• Learn how to access disability services, health services, counseling, academic advising, and other support services provided by the university.

For information, contact Danielle Colbert by email at Danielle.colbert@kysu.edu

KSU Accelerate

The KSU Accelerate summer bridge program is crafted as an accelerated supplemental instruction model to prepare participating students for credit-bearing coursework in their first college semester. This initiative aims to enhance the transition into gateway coursework, thus positively impacting retention, and progression, and reducing time to degree completion. Particularly crucial for incoming freshmen, many of whom have experienced significant periods of remote learning during high school, this residential bridge program spans two weeks and offers a pre-orientation and academic immersion experience. It targets academically underprepared students in English, math, and/or reading, as well as first-year admits with a cumulative high school GPA below 2.5, necessitating entry into a learning contract.

Program learning objectives allow participants:

• To meet readiness benchmarks in English, math, and/or reading after the program via developmental coursework in a workshop setting.
• Acclimate to the KSU campus and Frankfort community.
• Engage with other first-year admits, upperclassmen, staff, faculty, and administrators to maximize connectedness and belonging.
• Develop the necessary skills for college success via academic planning, study strategies, leadership/student involvement opportunities, and become familiar with other support resources.

For information, contact Danielle Colbert at Danielle.colbert@kysu.edu

Undergraduate Academic Advising

Delivers personalized advising services to assist students in navigating their academic journey, declaring majors confidently, and making informed decisions. The Professional Advisor at Kentucky State University is an integral component to student success. As such the professional advisors will:

• Assist students with the exploration and selection of majors and fulfillment of guided pathways.
• Facilitate student understanding of guided pathways and backward mapping. 
• Assist with course selection and registration. Fall registrations occur the preceding spring or summer. Spring semester registration occurs in the preceding. 
• Monitor academic progress.
• Facilitate early alert monitoring and intervention strategies to assist students with course success.
• Assist with transition issues as needed and provide campus resource referrals.
• After 60 credit hours, identified faculty coaches will serve as secondary advisors, helping students to navigate program and career exploration and fulfillment. Students will be assigned to a faculty coach, in their respective academic major.

Faculty coaches will:

• Assist with the understanding of program requirements.
• Help students connect the curriculum to their personal and professional goals.
• Assist in the preparation of long-range plans for the completion of degree requirements.

Undergraduate advising is located in the Student Center Suite 330, and can be reached at 502-597-5599 or via email at advising@kysu.edu. 

Thorobred Learning Center (Tutoring)

The primary objective of the Thorobred Learning Center (TLC) is to furnish holistic learning support, guaranteeing that students possess the requisite tools and resources essential for achieving academic prowess. Serving as a cornerstone for academic success, the Center extends tailored learning assistance to cater to the diverse academic requirements of students across all stages of their educational trajectory. TLC offers various services, including face-to-face group and individual tutoring, writing assistance, supplementary math review sessions, integrated peer support within classroom contexts, success-oriented workshops, and personalized academic coaching. TLC also provides supplementary tutoring online at https://kysu.upswing.io/

The Thorobred Learning Center is in Suite 330 Carl M. Hill Student Center and can be reached at (502) 597-6547 or by email: tlc@kysu.edu. Operating days and hours are updated regularly: https://www.kysu.edu/student-success-and-retention/thorobred-learning-center/index.php