Photo by Chad Jimenez
Marissa Davis is the new director for the Student Success Center, a center where tutoring can be centralized for various departments as well as academic support to students.
This new position is in charge of student success services such as coordinating tutoring services on campus, Kendra Killpatrick, associate dean for Seaver College, said. Killpatrick interviewed Davis for the position last July.
“It would mean a lot to me if I could create something that is of value, so that when we move to Payson, we [Student Success Center] can get the ball rolling,” Davis said.
With her new position, Davis said she hopes she can provide academic support to students through support workshops that, for example, can help students overcome test anxiety or stress. She will also try to bring tutoring to all general education courses with the use of student tutors, a job that students can apply for.
“I think she is very personable; she likes to work with people,” Killpatrick said. “She is excited to reach out to faculty to see what they think the tutoring needs are, and she’s excited to work with the students.”
Killpatrick said Davis has an excellent set of skills that will help her with her new position.
Davis said she worked for the School of Public Policy as the Director of Student Services where she oversaw student organizations, academic advising and worked with admissions and the financial aid office.
The new position of director of the Student Success Center is part of Dean Feltner and Associate Dean Killpatrick’s vision for Seaver College – developing a “robust” Student Success Center.
Davis’ goals for the future include using an app to plan on-demand tutoring and electronic check in systems to see what tutoring times are the most convenient for students.
With the new use of technology, Davis said Google Hangout tutoring will be available this semester in the Math department. Although this method of tutoring is still in its testing stages, she said she hopes that they can use it for other courses in the future. The goal of this is to have this form of tutoring open during later hours for students who may not be on campus or cannot easily get to a designated tutoring spot, she said.
Davis said everyone has been open and supportive of her and her new position. She said she enjoys bouncing ideas off colleagues and hearing from the students.
“So far, everyone has been open and supportive. It’s just the matter of getting my feet under me and finding a space,” Davis said.
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