Associate Vice President for Student Success
Email: rioshuss@mailbox.sc.edu
Phone: 803-777-4562
Office: Thomas Cooper Library Suite 504
Dr. Silvia Patricia Rios Husain serves as Associate Vice President for Student Success within the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support at the University of South Carolina. A nationally recognized higher education leader with more than 20 years of experience, she is known for advancing student success through strategic vision, innovation, and collaborative leadership.
Dr. Rios Husain provides executive leadership for a comprehensive portfolio that includes the University Career Center, the Student Success Center, the University 101 Programs, the Carolina Experience Office, an Assessment and Quality Improvement team, and the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Through these units, she leads coordinated efforts that strengthen retention, timely graduation, career readiness, and student success.
Under her leadership, multiple programs have earned and maintained national distinction. University 101 Programs have maintained the number one ranking among public institutions. The Student Success Center has received national recognition for financial wellness initiatives, first generation student support, and graduate student services. She also led the development of the Carolina Experience, a signature university initiative designed to expand structured support beyond the first year and strengthen belonging, engagement, and persistence.
Dr. Rios Husain has championed data informed decision making. During her tenure, the university launched Gamecock GradStats, providing career outcomes insights into more than 209,000 alumni and helping students and families make informed academic and career decisions. The work of her Assessment and Quality Improvement team has become a model within the Division of Student Affairs for translating complex data into clear, actionable insights. She has also advanced the responsible integration of artificial intelligence across student success functions, including academic support, career readiness, and first year learning.
Her leadership has been recognized nationally through the NASPA Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community’s Mena Valdez Award for Outstanding Senior Student Affairs Officer, honoring exceptional leadership and service in higher education.
Before joining the University of South Carolina, Dr. Rios Husain served as Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Gaston College, where she led enrollment growth, student success initiatives, and institution wide transformation efforts. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles at Broward College.
Dr. Rios Husain earned her doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin, her education specialist, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Florida, and her associate degree from Miami Dade College.