Today's Update: Monday, May 3
May 3, 2021
Dear Student Life Team, I get by with a little help from my friends.
It’s a Beatles song, and it sums up the relationship we have in Student Life with our donors. These friends are generous in their support and make it possible to offer our programs and services to an even greater number of students.
I am Scarlet and Grateful for their partnership, and I am pleased that thanks to their generosity, earlier this semester we reached our annual fundraising goal. I am especially thankful for the hard work of our Student Life Advancement team, led by senior director Carla Smith Jones, also including Rob Jech who was the interim director before Carla came on board.
Our work is, of course, not done yet. We have established some strategic fundraising priorities for Student Life going forward. They are:
- Foster leadership and service development, social change, experiential learning and community and civic engagement opportunities to advance support for students’ values, goals, needs and interests
- Create and implement customized programs, services and resources that remove barriers to student success
- Increase and enhance facilities, services and programs that align with our diversity, equity and inclusion goals
- Enrich high-impact practices and co-curricular initiatives to maximize student learning, create space for personal exploration and contribute to success of Ohio State students and graduates
- Expand accessibility to student mental and physical well-being programs and services to sustain an environment of health, safety, wellness and resilience
- Facilitate mentoring connections with faculty, staff, alumni and peers to help students navigate their experiences
Carla just last week wrapped up meetings with each of our Student Life directors, asking them to outline their needs and ideas for the coming year and beyond. From there, we will prioritize our fundraising efforts and make sure they are in alignment with the broader unit priorities, as well as those of the university.
Our donors are good friends of Student Life, and I am Scarlet and Grateful for their support and generosity.
Melissa