Mt. A students first point of contact for resources
September marks the first year Student Success Guides are an available resource for Mt. A students. Located on the first floor of the Wallace McCain Student Centre, the role of Student Success Guides is to be “students first point of contact when it comes to navigating resources on campus. No matter if the inquiry is about career academic advising, financial aid, and other student life opportunities” said Kevinique Stubbs, one of the two current guides. Jacob McKiel, the other guide, said this support can be done through, “one-on-one meetings with students,” as well as emails after being paired with one of the guides.
Student Success Guides were created to make it easier to access student resources. “They either didn’t know they exist or they just weren’t sure about how exactly to go about accessing them” said McKiel. Their mission, said Stubbs, is to “make it easier on everyone’s part.”
Student Success Guides are also marketed towards those in their first-year, because the “biggest adjustment for students is typically in first year,” says Stubbs. “They’re new, it’s a new environment, learning in university, studying university, all of that is way different than in high school, but this does not mean that upper year students cannot reach out if they have questions.” Stubbs said although they do not see upper year students often, they “do offer a hand to them.”
Both McKiel and Stubbs have immense knowledge of Mt. A and the resources here as they are both recent grads. McKiel, who graduated last May, said he came back because “I really enjoyed my time at Mt. A, and so when I saw that the job was open, I thought I would apply because I understood the importance of this role. [As] a student that had also had trouble accessing resources and also hearing from other students the same thing I knew that it was a really important role to have on campus.” Stubbs, who graduated in 2023 came back for similar reasons, saying, “I was really active during my time as a student.” started Stubbs, “I made a lot of connections, and therefore, at one point, I became very knowledgeable about Mt. A. Speaking with staff, even though we are here to support students, I do recognize that it can be a very scary thing.” continued Stubbs, “When I saw that this position was being advertised, a lot of my peers were pushing for me to apply for the job because they think it’s just an extension of what I’ve been doing during my time as a student.”
The Student Success Guides are here to help and encourage students to come see them. “Stop by the office. We welcome drop-ins,” said Stubbs.” Students who are unable to come to their office can visit them while they host pop-up workshop sessions during the winter semester. This is an additional opportunity to meet with the guides and see what resources are available for students. Information about these events will be posted to their Instagram @mtastudentsuccess. Questions about appointments or resources can be directed to their email [email protected].