What is Student Success and Who is Responsible?

Janet Schulenberg

doi:10.26209/mj2563327

Authors

Janet Schulenberg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26209/mj2563327

Keywords:

student success, academic advising, history of advising

Abstract

The concept of “student success” did not always exist in higher education. It emerged in different segments of the university at different times, for different students, for different reasons. Consequently, the concept of student success is variously defined and is inconsistently valued and supported. Improving how we collectively support students requires working within deeply entrenched cultural, demographic, socioeconomic, political, and ideological influences that have affected what students need to be successful and how universities have taken accountability for meeting those needs. In this adaptation of my keynote address at the 2023 Penn State Conference on Academic Advising, I situate the concept of student success within the history of academic advising at Penn State and beyond. I call on advisers to think critically about the definition of student success and their role, not only in helping individual students but also in creating broader institutional change.

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