Student Success Center

The Student Success Center provides services to assist students in adjusting to college life, improving their grades, and preparing them for a rewarding future. Services include:

• Academic Advising – Academic Advising is an ongoing educational process that connects the student to the university. Academic Advising supports the university’s mission of academic excellence in a Christian environment. At CSU, faculty members serve as academic advisors who represent and interpret university policies and procedures to students. Advisors help students navigate the academic and organizational paths of the institution. Faculty advisors assist students in the course scheduling and academic planning necessary to fulfill the requirements of their degree program. In addition, faculty advisors provide information and direct students to resources that enable sound career and personal choices. Advising begins in the freshman year with the Freshman Seminar, a 1-hour course taken by freshmen based on their major that helps orient students into the university experience. Freshman Seminar professors will serve as the faculty advisors for the students in their sections. Following the first semester of the freshman year, students are assigned to a permanent advisor in their major field of study.
  
  The academic advisor is granted formal authority by an academic unit {college, school, and department} to approve the student’s academic program of study and assist the student in progressing toward the appropriate degree. However, each student owns a share in the responsibility for actions and decisions that affect his or her own academic progress. This responsibility requires the student to:
  • Seek advising from appropriate advisors at appropriate times,
  • Learn academic program requirements,
  • Utilize available resources, including those that are web-based, to monitor academic progress, and
  • Take responsibility for actions and decisions that affect academic progress, including class selections and registrations.
     
• Testing Center - The Testing Center is designed to provide a quiet, supervised testing environment for students who must take tests out of schedule. This includes some special needs students and students who are representing the university on official business (including student-athletes). Students must schedule testing times at least 24 hours in advance.
• Student-Athlete Success - The Student-Athlete Success Coordinator works with all student-athletes and their coaches to ensure that students do all that is necessary to maintain their eligibility to play. Services available to student-athletes include personal counseling, NCAA academic advising, study hall arrangements and academic progress checks.
• The Learning Center - The Learning Center is an academic support service available to all students at Charleston Southern University. The backbone of the program is peer tutor consultation. Trained learning consultants and professionals provide the following services designed to maximize your learning experience across the curriculum throughout your time at CSU:
  • Learning skills, writing and content-area consultations by appointment
  • Walk-in labs at peak hours
  • Lecture series on specific skills
• Veterans and Military Programs – www.gibill.va.gov; rodom@csuniv.edu
  Charleston Southern University is pleased to be officially designated as a military-friendly college. Any student who plans to use VA Educational Benefits should contact the CSU Military Services Coordinator. Active duty personnel eligible to use tuition assistance should contact the Education Services Office at the military base where they are stationed. The CSU Military Services Coordinator assists students in areas including VA Vocational Rehabilitation (Chapter 31) and Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA, Chapter 35). Sons and daughters of veterans who received the Purple Heart or Medal of Honor should check on educational benefits at www.gibill.va.gov. CSU is also approved to participate in the Chapter 33 Yellow Ribbon Program. For more information visit our campus VA Office located in room 227 Russell West, or call (843)863-8063. Also visit us at http://www.csuniv.edu/studentsuccess/veterans.asp
• Academic Interventions – The SSC offers one-on-one academic counseling for all students to promote successful academic integration to the university. Students on academic probation receive a personal action plan and recommended one-on-one academic counseling. Some students on academic probation may be required to attend specialized academic counseling in a classroom setting. Academic interventions are prescribed with one goal in mind—to assist students in attaining and maintaining good academic standing with the university.
• New Student Programming—The SSC administers a Freshman Seminar Program that promotes academic and social integration to the university and provides the framework for freshman-year academic advising. The SSC is an active partner with other student life units on campus to provide programming to the student body at large and special target groups that supports the academic success of CSU students through to graduation.