Transition & Wellbeing: Thriving through Meaningful Connection, Engagement & Social-Belonging

The department is dedicated to connecting students to and engaging students while on campus with the intent to enhance their overall educational experience.  DMS work hinges on the interplay of student departure, student involvement, student transition, and student belonging, 1) to persist to graduation, students need integration into formal (academic performance) and informal (faculty/staff interactions) academic systems and formal (co-curricular activities) and informal (peer-group interactions) social systems, 2) the quality and quantity of a student’s involvement in formal and informal social systems on campus has a direct impact on the amount of learning and personal development they experience, and 3) the feeling student’s have of connectedness or feeling cared about, accepted, valued by, and important to and within the campus community positively correlates with motivations to achieve.

Thus DMS provides and supports avenues for social integration through both co-curricular efforts and peer interactions that result in meaningful connections, engagement and social belonging.   These activities also contribute to the university’s undergraduate learning outcomes through opportunities for growth in critical thinking, effective communication, team and collaborative work, and opportunities for intentional interaction and engagement.  While students are encouraged to explore leadership opportunities in the university’s more than 1000 student organizations and programs, DMS opportunities incorporate an integration approach to support student success in ways students’ feel personally passionate about where they can work and learn together from and with peers.