News and Stories

Learn more about the work and excitement happening within Student Success Programs, from student profiles to information on University-wide policy changes.

Featured Stories

Read More From Student Success Programs

Student Success Programs honors outstanding staff members with Bravo+ awards

April 19, 2023 | Orientation Programs

With the Bravo+ Award, eight staff members within Student Success Programs were recognized for moving the university forward, bringing innovation and creativity into their programs, working toward operational excellence, and promoting fiscal stewardship.

---

Purdue Orientation team attends NODA conference at the University of Iowa

April 18, 2023 | Orientation Programs

Right before Spring Break, Orientation Programs attended the Association for Orientation, Transition, Retention in Higher Education (NODA) Region V & VII Conference at the University of Iowa. The combined regions V and VII represent institutions across much of the midwest.

---

Jo Cardarelli to spearhead academic success efforts in Indianapolis

Mar. 20, 2023 | Academic Success Center

Jo Cardarelli, a passionate advocate for student success, is poised to lead academic support initiatives at Purdue University in Indianapolis as the new assistant director of Academic Success.

---

Academic Success Center staff celebrated for dedication and innovation

Mar. 4, 2023 | Academic Success Center

Through a variety of programs and services, the Helen Bass Williams Academic Success Center (ASC) aims to enhance learning, increase retention and improve undergraduate students’ success throughout their academic journey.

---

Purdue will host inaugural handball tournament to benefit student veterans, military members

Feb. 26, 2023 | Veteran and Military Success Center

Purdue’s Veteran and Military Success Center will co-host Purdue’s inaugural Armed Forces Open — a four-wall handball tournament that will draw players from all over the country to raise money for student veterans, military members and their families.

---

Dorothy C. Stratton’s birthday celebration serves as a reminder of her lasting impact at Purdue

Feb. 23, 2023 | Veteran and Military Success Center

Born on March 24, 1899, to Rev. Richard Stratton and Anna Stratton, Dorothy Stratton’s childhood involved constantly moving across the Midwest with her family, eventually settling in Kansas where young Stratton began her higher education at Ottawa University.

---

Purdue honors ‘trailblazer’ Dorothy Stratton during Veteran and Military Success Center renaming and dedication

Nov. 16, 2023 | Veteran and Military Success Center

While nearly a century has passed since Dorothy Stratton served as the first full-time dean of women at Purdue, her trailblazing efforts continue to inspire.

---

All Aboard Purdue: How Orientation has evolved to meet the needs of a larger, more diverse incoming class

Jan. 04, 2024 | Orientation Programs

Purdue University's Orientation Programs are a cornerstone of the university’s commitment to student success, providing an excellent and inclusive welcome to jumpstart students’ educational experience.

---

Virginia Johnson to lead orientation efforts at Purdue in Indianapolis

Feb. 22, 2024 | Orientation Programs

Virginia (Cabrera) Johnson has been named the senior assistant director of Orientation Programs in Indianapolis effective Monday, March 4. In this role, Johnson will lead efforts for Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) in Indianapolis, ensuring Boilermakers in Indy feel part of the Purdue family.

---

Purdue celebrates first-generation college students during national First-Gen Week

Nov. 13, 2023 | Student Success Programs

Joyner and her parents were some of the attendees at Purdue’s second annual “Proud to Be F1RST!” reception, one of several events hosted as part of Purdue’s First-Gen College Student Celebration Week.

---

Purdue community invited to Nov. 10 VMSC space dedication and renaming ceremony

Oct. 23, 2023 | Veteran and Military Success Center

When Morgan Gamble became director of Purdue’s Veterans Success Center in 2022, she noticed that some of the military-connected students served by the center would study outside the space. When she asked them why, the response was often the same.

---

Veterans Day salute to take place at Union

Oct. 18, 2023 | Veteran and Military Success Center

The ceremony will include the "Presentation of the Colors" by Purdue University Tri-service Color Guard, the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, and patriotic songs by the Purduettes. A table of remembrance and moment of silence, and three memorial volleys will take place at the tribute, which is free and open to the public.

---

Academic Success Center offers Test Drive in Elliott Hall

Oct. 6, 2023 | Academic Success Center

For courses with large rosters, Elliott Hall of Music is Purdue University’s most practical space for hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of students to take a single exam at once.

---

A new kind of Teaching Assistant

Sept. 7, 2023 | Student Success Programs

A virtual teaching assistant powered by artificial intelligence is being utilized in an engineering course at Purdue. How might this technology transform education in the years to come?

---

High school students get a glimpse of Purdue life and a lesson in entrepreneurship during Summer College

Aug. 28, 2023 | Summer & Winter Sessions

This past July, 17 high school students had the opportunity to live on Purdue’s campus for a week, take classes with faculty members and become familiar with college life. But it wasn’t just a test run of their assured college careers.

---

Testing services merge to form new consolidated center in STEW

Aug. 4, 2023 | Purdue Testing Services

Testing services previously provided by the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and the Purdue Testing Center have merged to form a new unit – Purdue Testing Services (PTS), effective May 2023. PTS will serve as a consolidated location for a variety of testing services at Purdue including accommodated testing, advanced credit exams, PRAXIS, GRE, and more.

---

More than 8,000 students will attend BGR this fall

July 31, 2023 | Orientation Programs

As Purdue prepares to welcome its newest Boilermakers to the West Lafayette campus, staff and faculty are encouraged to plan accordingly for heavier pedestrian and vehicular traffic during move-in days, as well as throughout orientation programming.

---

Campus departments invited to host open houses during Boiler Gold Rush

May 31, 2023 | Orientation Programs

These open houses aim to provide campus offices with an opportunity to connect with new and transfer students before the fall semester begins, said Craig Johnson, director of Orientation Programs.

---

Purdue community invited to honor the fallen during Memorial Day observance

May 9, 2023 | Veterans Success Center

The ceremony will pay formal respects to the sacrifices of America’s veterans who have given their lives in defense of the nation. The event will begin with a moment of silence, followed by remarks from Zane Reif, senior director of the PMU, and Morgan Torres, director of the VSC.

---

Purdue changes academic regulations language to 'academic notice'

March 22, 2023 | Student Success Programs

Purdue students who fall below a 2.0 grade point average will no longer be “on academic probation” – instead, they’ll be “on academic notice,” thanks to a change in academic regulations language recently approved by Purdue’s University Senate.

---

Horizons Director Allensworth concludes yearlong appointment with Emerging Leaders Institute

March 1, 2023 | Horizons

Horizons Director Brittany Allensworth was selected by Indiana TRIO to represent the chapter in the Educational Opportunity Association’s (EOA) Emerging Leaders Institute’s (ELI) 2022 cohort. Brittany was joined by seven other professionals representing the other chapters in the region.

---

Celebrating Horizons Student Support Services and the impact of the TRIO program at Purdue

February 23, 2023 | Horizons

National TRIO Day—celebrated each year on the fourth Saturday in February—is meant to focus the nation’s attention on the needs of disadvantaged college students and the talent that could be wasted if universities don’t invest in their success.

---

Breaking Barriers: Brittany Mills' story of persistence in the field of biomechanics

February 20th, 2023 |  Student Success Programs

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, over 10,000 Purdue students entered the workforce ready to use their brand-new degrees. But like many of her peers, Brittany Mills faced hurdles finding the right gig in a job market suddenly turned upside down.

---

Purdue staff member invited to serve on Indiana Veterans Affairs Commission

February 15th, 2023 |  Veterans Success Center

Ask many alumni, and they’ll tell you studying abroad was a quintessential part of their college experience. A trip to Ecuador that tested their second language skills. A semester in Singapore that expanded their cultural understanding.

---

Student Success Programs boost access to study abroad experiences

January 19th, 2023 |  Student Success Programs

Ask many alumni, and they’ll tell you studying abroad was a quintessential part of their college experience. A trip to Ecuador that tested their second language skills. A semester in Singapore that expanded their cultural understanding.

---

Veterans Day salute to take place at Union

November 3rd, 2022 |  Veterans Success Center

Purdue will celebrate veterans Friday (Nov. 11) at a Veterans Day ceremony in the Great Hall of Purdue Memorial Union. The Purdue Student Union Board will host a tribute at 11 a.m. It will include “Presentation of the Colors” by Purdue University Tri-service Color Guard, the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, and patriotic songs by the Purduettes.

---

Purdue honors first African American faculty member by renaming Academic Success Center in her honor

September 26th, 2022 |  Academic Success Center

Before becoming Purdue’s first African American professor in 1968, Helen Bass Williams had worked as a midwife, an undertaker, and a leader in the Civil Rights movement. Described by one of her colleagues as a “long-haul activist,” Williams was beaten up more than once in Mississippi for her activism. Those were times of terror, Williams once said, but she kept going.

---