Student Success Center, Bietz Center - 3rd Floor, 236.2782, southern.edu/successcenter
Southern offers its students at no extra charge above tuition several resources to help them adjust to university life. Personal and career counseling, consultation, testing, advisement for first-year students, and referral services are among these services and are provided in a confidential, caring environment.
Career Services: The career services coordinator offers career counseling, administers career assessments (interests, work values, skills and personality), provides occupational exploration resources, and assists with writing resumes and cover letters.
Counseling Services: The Student Success Center (SSC) staffs 3 full-time and two part-time fully-licensed counselors, all of whom are trained to address the issues of anxiety, stress, depression, suicidal ideations, relationship concerns, family concerns, interpersonal functioning problems, sleep problems, and loneliness/social isolation. Appointments are made through the Student Success Center’s office manager. In some cases the SSC may also make referrals to professional services in the community. Communication between counselors and students is confidential and privileged as defined by Tennessee law.
Disability Support Services/Support of Alternative Readiness (SOAR): It is the policy and practice of Southern Adventist University, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act regarding students and applicants with disabilities. SOAR’s mission is to assist each student in reaching their goals regardless of any physical, learning, psychological, psychiatric, or other documented disability they might have. SOAR advocates for reasonable accommodations that help ensure equal access to course content and evaluation. Students with disabilities, who intend to seek accommodations, are encouraged to contact SOAR as soon as possible. Sufficient advance notification and proper documentation, allows SOAR the necessary time to process requests. Without sufficient advance notice, requests may be delayed. Moreover, retroactive accommodations cannot be provided.
First-Year Experience (FYE): FYE services assist new university students in achieving a fulfilling and balanced university experience. FYA The beginning-of-the-year student-orientation program has been designed to prepare all new students and their parents to the demands and expectations of living and studying on our university campus. The Southern Connections course provides first-time college students with tools for managing the challenges and opportunities faced on their university journey. Each Southern Connection student is assigned a peer mentor that will help them adjust to their first year on campus. FYE also manages summer advising to incoming new students. They assist in helping them sign up for classes and connecting them to their academic department.
Testing Services: The Testing Services staff coordinates and administers testing and assessment programs that include national admission and certification tests, institutional assessment programs, individual diagnostic screening assessments, and career assessments.
Southern is an established non-Saturday National Test Center for the administration of entrance examinations for students applying to graduate and professional programs. Testing Services is a member of the National College Testing Association (NCTA) and the Consortium of College Testing Centers (CCTC) and subscribes to the NCTA Professional Standards and Guidelines.
Retention Services: Retention Services provides students support through a variety of offerings that includes one-on-one attention from a specially-trained student support manager (SSM) of the Student Support Team, JumpStart, University Enrichment courses and international student activities. Student Support managers often address the following topics of interest: time management and organization, managing stress and anxiety, test taking and study tips, and healthy relationships.