Making a plan for success

Picture your dream job. It’s January 2020. You’re hired as the director of student success—providing holistic support for young men and women making their way through college. Two months later, the pandemic hits. Now you’re helping students with a new set of problems no one anticipated. That’s what happened to Jocelyn Clippinger ’17, equipped with a bachelor’s in communication along with sociology and anthropology from Messiah, as she began working at her alma mater.

“There was an increase of students’ needs and struggle,” she said. “The pandemic was a process. We all process through trauma differently. Some students experienced a semester when they didn’t do their best. So I tried to normalize that and provide empathy and understanding.”

Triage

While Messiah always has championed supporting students, the Office of Student Success officially formed in January 2020.

“Student success as a model in higher ed has been around for a while now,” said Clippinger, “but there are continued efforts in supporting student populations.”

She describes the office as a triage of sorts for students.

The first person to fill the director of student success role at Messiah, she continues to work to make the job her own. With a master’s degree in counseling with a specialization in college counseling from Shippensburg University, she says she has tapped into her strength as an “arranger”—someone who helps students put the pieces of their college puzzle together.

“We look at students holistically, cognitively, emotionally, socially. All of those things affect a student’s ability to thrive here,” she explained. “We look at a student’s sense of belonging. We would hope everyone is having a great time here, but there are external, internal and interpersonal factors at play.”

To work through those things, Clippinger said, “It does take work, and it does take the student asking for help.”

Trends

Clippinger typically sees students through a referral process, but there’s an uptick in appointments during mid-terms and finals.

“I think students nowadays are very hard on themselves,” she said. “When things don’t go well, there’s shame and disappointment. That can spiral to other things.”

She said she tries to remind students, “They can continue to change and grow, and mistakes are part of that process.”

She collaborates with many campus offices—the Engle Center for Counseling and Health Services, the Office of Academic Accessibility, the financial aid, the registrar’s office, just to name a few—who are just as committed to the student experience.

“There are so many offices that do student success. We are all in a consistent amount of communication. We are all so committed to helping students, by providing well-rounded, universal support,” she said. “When students have multiple people in their corner, they feel they can do well.”

— Anna Seip