The new Student Success Center brings achievement to students through many supportive resources.

This September marked the opening of the two-story Student Success Center (SSC) at Fox Valley Technical College’s Appleton campus, a result of the college’s successful 2012 public referendum that passed by a two-to-one margin. The new facility is designed to provide students with easy access to all of FVTC’s academic services. (See photo gallery below.)

“In previous years, it was a bit challenging for students to find the individual help that they needed,” says Dr. Patti Jorgensen, vice president of student and community development. “We now have one central place where students can go to get assistance. During the first two weeks the center was open, about 600 students connected with tutors or study groups.”

The SSC’s services include peer and faculty tutoring and other academic support, in addition to easy access to meeting rooms, computers, and an expanded library that creates a learner-friendly setting. “Almost every student will come through here frequently during his or her academic career to use these support services,” states Jorgensen. “We have everything from stress management classes to career preparation training, and more.”

The SSC serves as an ideal environment to prepare students with skills that employers are seeking—teamwork, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, leadership, and more. These soft skills, coupled with technical knowledge, make FVTC students well-positioned for success in this economy.

Growing Success

The Student Success Center’s centerpiece is the Tree of Success, a 24 ft. handcrafted tree with 57 leaves under a center skylight.

Each leaf is inscribed with a motivational word that students developed based off of what success means to them. The trunk and branches of the tree were built by students in FVTC’s Wood Manufacturing Technology program in Oshkosh.

FVTC collaborated on the project with Banker Wire, Custom Metals, Inc., Miron Construction, and Eppstein Uhen Architects.