Today's Update: Thursday, November 20, 2025

November 20, 2025

Dear Student Life team, 

You have a tremendous impact on our students. Whatever your role with Student Life, you are a key component to empowering them to engage, learn and thrive during their time at Ohio State and beyond.  

Sometimes we need a reminder of just how important we are in that effort. We’ve put together the 2024-25 Student Life Impact Report to show examples of how we are supporting student success inside and outside the classroom.  

You can find the full Impact report online, and this afternoon I just wrapped up sharing highlights of that report with the members of the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs and Student Life Committee Meeting.  

I am so proud of the countless ways Student Life is making a difference in the lives of students, far too many to cover in one report or board presentation. One I chose to share with the board members this afternoon is our innovation in involvement. We know meaningful involvement on campus is a very strong predictor of retention, persistence and overall well-being. This year, we’ve taken a major step forward in making it easier than ever for students to find their community at Ohio State. 

Through an innovative partnership with our colleagues in the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation, Student Life worked with the Ohio State App team to reimagine how students connect to organizations and events.  

What began as a simple idea—to add wayfinding for the Student Involvement Fair—quickly grew into something transformative. 

The result is a new “Get Involved” tab in the Ohio State App, a permanent, highly visible hub for student engagement that now integrates our student organization directory, the campus events calendar, Recreational Sports information and Athletics schedules—all in one place. 

And students are using it! During this year’s Student Involvement Fair, we saw 65,000 screen views and 11,000 unique users of the Fair page. 

Another area where we are making an impact is in advancing student well-being. Student Life takes a multi-modal approach through the Ten Dimensions of Wellness, ensuring that students have access to education, resources and support across all aspects of well-being. 

From Let’s Talk session in Counseling and Consultation Service to our Kindness Initiative to workshops focused on reducing stigma in using mental health and wellness resources and more, we are creating a culture of care at Ohio State.  

As I’ve said many times, in Student Life, our work is grounded in one simple idea: when students engage fully, learn deeply and thrive holistically, they not only succeed at Ohio State; they carry that success into their careers and the rest of their lives.   

Thank you for being a Scarlet and Great part of that effort.  

Melissa S. Shivers, PhD       
Senior Vice President for Student Life        
The Ohio State University