Freeman to direct Student Academic Success Center at NSU

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--Dr. Jerrid P. Freeman is making a return to Northeastern State University this fall. This time, he is coming back as director of the Student Academic Success Center.

Dr. Freeman served as a strategic planning consultant for enrollment management during the summer of 2011 and liked what he saw.

There are really good people at NSU, he said. They make decisions on what is best for students and the institution. My values are in line with this institution and its administration. The students at NSU are who I was when I was young, and now I am becoming part of something that truly escalates the ability for students to be successful.

The Student Academic Success Center is designed to enhance the academic performance of students. This center was created from a five-year Title III grant which supplies federal funds through the Department of Education. Its primary goal is to increase student retention and graduation rates by providing academic services and counseling.

Many of these services are already available on campus, Freeman said. The Student Success Center will seek to help bring them together into a more seamless experience for students.

To achieve its goal, the center will provide academic advisement for undeclared students. The goal is to have faculty from NSUs undergraduate colleges available to advise students who have declared a major as well. Freeman seeks to develop relationships across campus that enhance services for students and help faculty and current advisors be as successful as possible.

Everything is focused on helping facilitate successful completion of classes for students and positive experience for all involved, Freeman said.

The Center will also seek collaboration of NSU tutoring services for greatest efficiency. Plus, this is designed to help students feel an ease of use with all the tutoring services that are in different locations on campus.

NSU has plenty of academic tutoring available but students may not be aware of all the offerings and where they are all located, Freeman said. We want to do all we can to assist in making students more aware of all our tutoring services and improve the use and effectiveness of all our services.

The Student Academic Success Center will also offer career counseling in cooperation with NSU Career Services and assist with student advocacy.

The students who might need to be most aware of the center are those in crisis, be it financial, social, academic or disciplinary, Freeman said. We want to be able to help those students.

Freeman said the center will benefit all students on campus in some fashion.

Students are almost certain to use one of the centers services at some point during their college career, he said. It is difficult to live four of five years of ones life without facing some sort of difficulty. The Student Academic Success Center will bring these services to the forefront so more students will be aware of them. If they use them, it will ultimately increase NSUs retention and graduation rates.

A native of Burwell, Neb., Freeman received his bachelors degree in secondary mathematics, physics, and coaching at the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 1998. He was awarded his masters degree of college student personnel from Bowling Green State University in 2000 and earned his doctorate of higher education administration from North Carolina State University in 2005.

At the University of Arkansas he served as director of student affairs auxiliary facilities, director of the Arkansas Union and as adjunct faculty for higher education leadership. He has also served as associate director of residence life operations and information management at Elon University. Most recently, he was interim director of the Memorial Union at Fort Hays State University.

For more information about the NSU Student Success Center write to Freeman at freema22@nsuok.edu.