After we sat down with Dr. Silvia Patricia Rios Husain, we asked members of her leadership team to serve as additional contributors to the March edition of Stay Informed. Through a single question, we asked leadership – “What does student success mean to you?”
Here are their unique perspectives.  

Dana Talbert, Director of the Student Success Center: “Back when I was a student, I used to think success meant getting straight A’s. And if that were true, then I definitely wasn’t ‘successful.’ I worked hard, but I wasn’t a perfect student. I struggled at times, balancing school, jobs and life. There were moments when I wondered if I even belonged in college.

It took me a while to realize that success isn’t just about grades — it’s about growth. The things that really shaped my journey weren’t just test scores, but the mentors who guided me, the experiences that challenged me and the skills I built along the way.

Now, as the Director of the Student Success Center, I want every student to know that their GPA doesn’t define them. Success looks different for everyone. It’s about finding your path, building confidence, and learning how to navigate whatever comes next. My goal is to make sure students have the support, resources and opportunities they need to thrive—not just in school, but in life.”
 
Dan Friedman, Assistant Vice President for University 101 Programs & The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition: “Student success has classically been defined as academic achievement, engagement in educationally purposeful activities, acquisition of knowledge, satisfaction, persistence, degree completion and post-college achievement.

I am proud to have dedicated my 27-year career to helping students achieve these markers of success. University 101 Programs offers an array of courses, from U101 to U401, that help students successfully transition into, through, and out of the university – all designed to create the conditions that will foster this type of student success. 

At the heart of our work in University 101 Programs, student success is really about having a sense of belonging, engagement in the curricular and co-curricular life of the university, understanding and fulfilling the expectations of the university and its faculty, realizing their own potential, developing and applying critical thinking skills and gaining clarity on their purpose, meaning and direction. For our upper-division peer leaders, success also means developing essential leadership skills including communication, conflict resolution, facilitation and helping skills.

Overall, success is not about surviving college — but rather thriving here. I want students to make the most of their college experience and to achieve their potential, goals and dreams. And I want them all to say they loved their college experience at the University of South Carolina!”
 
Amber Falluca, Director of the Carolina Experience: “The opportunity to contribute to the success of our students and to be a part of their journey towards graduation and career goals is incredibly significant. In Carolina Experience, we are excited to engage with students beyond the traditional first year with an emphasis on transfer, sophomore, junior and senior year experiences. Our origins developed through stakeholder feedback, including from USC students, seeking better continuity across services and support through the entire collegiate career. Our efforts focus on helping to raise awareness of the robust resources our campus offers that align with our student populations, as well as to identify the significant milestones to help students fulfil their potential leading to graduation. 

As a cross-coordinating department, we work collaboratively with other student support offices academic colleges and student leaders to identify ways to support students after the first year. Some examples include providing customized programming for middle and later year student populations, assigning a Carolina Experience Peer Leader to every undergraduate student past the first year, elevating noteworthy traditions for the entire USC community and support for pilot sections of UNIV201 and UNIV301 focused on career readiness and holistic wellness.  We are just getting started with these efforts, and we are excited to continue to engage with the campus community to help provide quality and continuous support leading to skilled graduates and proud Gamecock alumni.”
 
Carrie Van Haren, Director of Academic Assessment and Quality Improvement: “From my perspective, working in assessment, student success means we have data demonstrating that the university’s and our individual units’ goals for our students are being achieved. That includes things like high retention rates, graduation rates, course-level and overall GPAs, involvement in high-impact practices, workplace skills assessments and placement rates after graduation. Student success also means that the data we are collecting directly from students about their experiences at USC show that the goals and hopes they have for themselves are being met, too. Student success, in this case, is data demonstrating that students are happy and thriving at USC, that they find our services and support helpful and meaningful and that they are learning, growing and becoming more prepared for their future with each new experience.