Franciscan University of Steubenville addition offers help to students

STEUBENVILLE -- Officials at the Franciscan University of Steubenville welcomed the opening of its Center for Success, a place designed to provide a boost to students and families as they navigate their way through the college experience.

The addition of the center at the St. John Paul II Library was marked Thursday with a ribbon-cutting and a blessing by the Rev. Dave Pivonka, TOR, the university's president.

Ann Dulany, assistant vice president for student success, thanked Pivonka and members of the president's council for their support of the addition, which she said will build on the Franciscan Plus mentoring program available to first-year students with a variety of other services.

Dulany said many Franciscan students have received tutoring through other students, but they often lacked a private place where they could meet without distractions.

She said it's become clear the center has filled a niche because its three individual study rooms and two group study rooms haven't been empty since it opened recently.

Dulany said the center's director, Sarah Hough, and her staff are prepared to assist students and their families in other ways.

Daniel Dentino, vice president of student life, noted the university has been designated a Hispanic-serving institution because nearly one-fourth of its enrollment includes full-time students in that ethnic group.

Dulany said one of the center's goals will be to not only aid Hispanic students attending the school but to familiarize their parents, including those whose native tongue is not English, with the college experience, if needed, in acknowledgment that they provide moral support to their children.

She said another goal is to aid students who are the first in their families to attend college, noting that at least 235 Franciscan students are in this group.

Dulany said staff at the center will be prepared to administer certain exams to students with learning styles that benefit from a solitary testing environment free of distractions.

Daniel Kempton, vice president of academic affairs, said with the addition of such programs as engineering and criminal justice, the university is attracting a greater number of students and needs to be proactive in identifying and addressing what everyone at the university needs to be successful in furthering their educations.

Sarah Hough, the center's director, said in developing it, she and others set out to make it a place of hospitality, encouragement and connectedness.

"I heard one student describe it as a fancy place, which was great," she said.

Dulany noted the center also includes a small lounge with comfortable seating and a smart television that can serve as a place of rest for the school's growing number of commuters.

Pivonka, himself a graduate of the university, said he envisions the center helping many, adding, "When I was a student, I would have loved to have had it.'

He said too often new students perceive their professors in an adversarial light and the center proves that faculty and administrators are happiest when students are performing well.

To students in attendance, Pivonka said, "I think this is a great sign that we're on your side. We want you to succeed."