The first question that may be on a person’s mind is probably well what exactly is Project Success anyway? This is an excellent question.  To answer this question I interviewed Dr. Boyle to find out just what Project Success is and how students can benefit from it. 
            According to Dr. Boyle, Project Success is a “retention program for first year residence hall students and is to help assist them, in achieving academic success.”  There are three components to the program. The first of which are study sessions.  Any student who is having difficulty in either Math or English may attend these sessions to receive help in these trouble areas. The Math sessions are on Wednesday nights from 7 p.m. to 9pm in Wunderley Room 201. The English sessions are on Monday nights from 7pm to 9 p.m. in Wunderley Room 201 as well.  These sessions are to assist students who may be having trouble comprehending the concepts that are presented in class. The second component is workshops. These workshops are held Tuesdays in the Learning Center. There will be a series of workshops that will be presented throughout the entire fall semester. The third component is community service. The purpose of this component is to get the students; involved in the community and to have them lend a helping hand early on. The students are required to complete one community service project per semester.  Examples of community services are tutoring at Crestas Terrace, a nearby school, volunteering at an animal shelter, volunteering your time to help the elderly or assisting at the food bank. In addition to these basic facets of the program, incentives are also offere
                   For example, if a student was to participate in two study sessions, one workshop and have a good attendance record, there will be rewards offered to this student.  There is a deadline for this program, and it is September 15^th.

                        In addition to the main objectives of this program, an Intensive Program is offered to students who really need the extra help.  The students who qualify for this program will have to attend tutoring sessions in the Learning Center. This program is sponsored by ACE. ACE stands for academic and career excellence program. This program offers supplemental instruction, an advisor as well as a mentor program.

                        The idea for Project Success originated from a group effort. Dr. Porter, campus executive officer, Dr. Boyle, the director of Student Affairs,

 Dr. Signorella, director of Academic Affairs, Kathy Schwab, director of enrollment management, and Lydia Lockhart, the coordinator of the Ace Program, all helped to bring this program to life.

                        The ultimate goal of the program is to try to assist first year students to be as successful as they can and to retain students. Also, part of the mission of the program is to reach out to the community through community services. Research has shown that involvement in organizations and clubs is beneficial to a student’s academic success.

                        This is the first year that Project Success has been implemented and it will run for the duration of this school year. If anyone has questions or concerns about the program, he or she can contact Dr. Boyle.  Sheryl Talent who is the coordinator for Project Success could also answer any questions a student might have.