Annual Report

Priority 1: Invest in the Student Affairs staff experience.

The departments are largely investing in the Student Affairs staff via allocating funding for their staff to attend conferences, trainings and professional development events.

Priority 2: Actively engage UNCW students.

There are three major categories of engagement with UNCW students. These categories are:

• Engaging students via day-to-day operations (e.g., usage of Campus Recreation facilities, Campus Life programs, Student Health Center appointments, or Dean of Students services).
• Engaging students via presentations and other forms of outreach to students on campus.
• Engaging students by employing a large number of UNCW students in DSA departments.

Priority 3: Promote high-impact practices to students.

This priority was on hold during the 2022-23 academic year due to related UNCW processes.

• Some departments have begun reporting data on how they intend to meet this priority. For example, many departments have student employees and interns, which directly fulfills the category of work-based learning; developing student leaders is also a HIP.
• Other departments (i.e., HRL) provide learning communities for their students, which enhances the student experience by providing a more community-based learning environment and is also considered a HIP.
• DSA created a poster series to market the advantages of HIPs to students.

Priority 4: Increase education on Title IX/sexual harassment, student conduct, civility and freedom of expression and academic integrity/student honor code.

• CARE and ODOS conduct outreach in the form of training for students and provide presentations during orientation, with all first-year and transfer students required to complete an online violence prevention program.
• Title IX, not reporting to DSA, as of June 2023, also does outreach and trainings.

Priority 5: Every student engages with career development at least once a year.

• There are two major ways in which departments are meeting this priority:
  • Some departments refer students to the Career Center or invite the Career Center to speak to students under their care (e.g., Housing and Residence Life).
  • Secondly, some departments meet this priority by employing students and providing them with professional development opportunities.
• The Career Center addresses this priority through its core activities and programming, including student appointments with Career Development Counselors, presentations and workshops for student groups and classes and career and internship fairs.

Priority 6: Support the underrepresented student experience and engagement.

• Many departments have this priority ingrained in their day-to-day operations. For example, departments such as the Disability Resource Center and University Testing Services support students with documented disabilities through the provision of testing accommodations.
• Other departments offer specialized services to support underrepresented student groups – e.g., the Student Health Center provides Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for trans patients.
• Finally, many departments encourage equity and equality by maintaining partnerships with underrepresented student centers (e.g., Office of Military Affairs, Centro Hispano, Mohin-Scholz LGBTQIA resource center).

Priority 7: Provide resources and support for on-campus second-year students.

• The HRL supports the second-year experience through the development of a sequential residential program.
• Other departments track the number of second-year students participating in their activities and events to understand how many are attending.

Priority 8: Promote well-being and wellness for students, faculty and staff.

• The day-to-day operations of departments such as the Disability Resource Center, Student Health Center, Counseling Center and Campus Recreation address the priority of promoting well-being and wellness for students, faculty and staff. For students with disabilities, access to appropriate accommodations through the Disability Resource Center can be a key factor in well-being. Similarly, students with chronic medical conditions may require the services of the Student Health Center to maintain their well-being and wellness.
• Other departments meet this priority by encouraging the use of and providing materials related to Healthy Hawk initiatives. In the coming academic years, Healthy Hawks committee continues to achieve the goal of renewing cross-departmental efforts to promote well-being.
• Some departments address faculty and staff wellness through their routine services (Campus Recreation) or presentations and outreach (CARE).

Priority 9: Establish and further develop partnerships outside the Division of Student Affairs.

• Many departments address this priority by partnering with other units within the university (e.g., Cameron Business School, Student Government Association, Watson College of Education, UNCW Library, among others).
• Departments also reported numerous partnerships outside of UNCW. For example, CARE partners with the community Rape Crisis Center and Domestic Violence Center and the Disability Resource Center partners with Cape Fear Community College and local high schools.
• DSA continues to partner with the Graduate School to enhance co-curricular programming and services for graduate students.

Overall, Students Affairs departments’ core functions, services and programming address the priorities. Departments are particularly strong with respect to actively engaging UNCW students (Priority 2), (including with the addition of new programs and the Inclusive Community Committee committee of the Division of Student Affairs) supporting the underrepresented student experience and engagement (Priority 3), promoting well-being and wellness for students (Priority 8), and external partnerships (Priority 9). The departments are working to ensure that feelings of equity, inclusion and belonging are fostered in underrepresented students by providing goal-oriented programming to engage these students.