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Department of Student Support Services
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The University provides services to students to support their academic and personal development. These services include Academic Advising, Counseling, the Learning Center, Support Services, Services for Students with Disabilities, and the Writing Center. In addition, all faculty within the Department of Student Support Services advise students enrolled in the Associate’s Degree in Liberal Studies.
Academic Advising
The Academic Advising Center provides services to a wide range of students, inlcuding special support for underrepresented students of color through a minority mentoring program called SUPPORT. This initiative supports Mansfield’s diversity goals through various workshops and guest speakers. This includes developmental workshops and leadership conference opportunities.
Mission: The mission of the Academic Advising Center is to provide quality academic advising by assisting students in the purposeful planning of an undergraduate liberal arts education, contributing to an environment that promotes academic (Scholarship) and personal, as well as intellectual, and ethical (Character) growth. Academic Advising is a decision-making process by which students realize their maximum education potential through communication and information exchanges with an advisor; it is ongoing, multifaceted and a shared responsibility of both the advisor and advisee. The advisor, utilizing a developmental, proscriptive and/or prescriptive, strength-based approach, serves as a constant facilitator of communication and a coordinator of learning experiences (through course and career planning and academic progress review), and as an agent of referral to other campus services.
Vision: Mansfield University’s Academic Advising Center aspires to provide an excellent advising experience through the development of academic and career goals, meaningful collaborative relationships, and appropriate academic decision making and navigational skills, that will result in students valuing and applying their liberal arts education.
Counseling Center
The University Counseling Center encourages all students of the campus community to access counseling services. All services provided by the University Counseling Center are offered at no additional cost to the student and respect the applicable confidentiality laws and ethical guidelines of the APA (American Psychological Association) and ACA (American Counseling Association). We offer individual, couples, and family counseling to students and provide workshops for organizations, as well as other services as needed. For additional information or to schedule an appointment, visit our website http://www.mansfield.edu/counseling-center/ or call 570-662-4695.
The Learning Center and the Writing Center
The Learning Center and the Writing Center at Mansfield University are committed to helping students achieve their academic goals. Staff are dedicated to providing a success-oriented learning environment that focuses on the essentials of what is needed to succeed in college. Student support programs are designed to assist students in maximizing their academic potential.
The Learning Center provides peer tutors, supplemental instruction study sessions, workshops, and additional one-on-one support as necessary. These student support programs focus on course content, collaborative student learning processes that are designed to actively engage the learner, and teaching and implementation of learning strategies. The Writing Center provides peer-tutors who are identified by English professors as excellent writers to help students develop effective writing and editing strategies that support the formal writing instruction and requirements presented in various courses throughout the curriculum.
MISSION
The mission of the Mansfield University Learning Center is to support, encourage, and empower students to become independent, self-advocating, resourceful, and lifelong learners.
VISION
The Center’s vision is to become a place where both faculty and students willingly rely on our resources, where they are free to question, take risks, and effectively achieve their academic and pedagogical goals.
Services for Students with Disabilities
Mission: Mansfield University’s Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) is committed to both the letter and the spirit of the law which mandates that access to higher education be provided to students with disabilities. Accordingly, Mansfield will provide various disability-related services to ensure that students with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in the educational, social, and cultural life at Mansfield University.
Vision: The vision of the Office of SSD is the provision of accommodations in collaboration with a supportive network to break down access barriers for the purpose of equality in education. The academic and personal growth gained from a student’s own experiences and self-advocacy through their participation in Academic and Human Development will develop a more confident and successful graduate.
The SSD office serves those students who are covered under ADA as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The office further includes those qualifying under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which mandates that “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7 (20) shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
The SSD office is the main advocate for students with disabilities who request academic accommodations at the University. It is the goal to assist students in gaining appropriate and reasonable accommodations, while enhancing their ability to pursue a meaningful college experience.
After submitting pertinent documentation, SSD will attempt to address all reasonable accommodations appropriate to the student’s needs. Current accommodations include, but are not limited to, ADA residence hall requests, priority registration, testing accommodations, readers, interpreters, guidance in acquiring assistive devices, and relocation of class sections to aid access.
Students are encouraged to contact the Director of SSD in South Hall to discuss any accommodations. Early notification (with the appropriate required documentation) is critical when seeking physical or academic accommodations for effective and timely implementation.
TRiO Student Support Services is a federally funded and competitive grant that has been established at Mansfield University since 2005.
TRiO provides extensive support for the students enrolled in the program. TRiO offers a variety of programming and services to our students, including academic and personal growth workshops, financial aid and financial literacy workshops, cultural and social activities, tutors, peer mentors, career counseling (including preparation for graduate school), and activities focusing on leadership and service. Staff are dedicated to providing personalized services to our students to help them gain the skills they need to graduate from college and to reach their personal and professional goals.
Mission Statement: The mission is to increase the persistence and graduation rates of students enrolled in the TRiO program by offering academic, personal, financial, and career support to help students develop the values of the Mansfield Creed (Character, Culture, Scholarship, and Service). The staff members work diligently to empower the students to become critical thinkers who take responsibility for developing strategies to succeed not only in college, but also in their professional lives beyond college. TRiO works closely with programs across campus to facilitate student success. In doing so, the Program helps foster an institutional climate supportive of the success of underprepared college students.
TRiO Goals
- The department will provide opportunities for first-year students to successfully transition into college.
- The department will provide quality one-to-one counseling to TRiO students through advising, peer mentoring, and quality programming. In doing so, we will provide students with the opportunities to acquire skills necessary to succeed in college.
- The department will provide opportunities for students to gain leadership skills necessary for successful careers and will prepare students for post-college plans.
- The department will foster the development of the Mansfield University Creed values: character, scholarship, culture, and service.
- 75% of students in the department will remain in good academic standing each semester by maintaining a 2.0 QPA or higher and will achieve a persistence rate equal to or above the university cohort.
- 55% of new participants served each year will graduate within 6 years.
Program Outcomes:
- Students will identify resources to help them transition from high school to college.
- Students will create Individual Success Plans each semester that reflect their personal learning goals.
- Students will describe the skills necessary to succeed academically, psychologically, and financially in college according to their personal learning goals.
- Students will be able to demonstrate the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in college.
- Students will exhibit academic success by maintaining a QPA of 2.0 or above.
Policies and Procedures:
Mountie Spirit Store
The Mountie Spirit Store is a non-profit organization operated by College Community Services, Inc., governed by the students. The store carries MU clothing, school supplies, mugs, graduation attire, MU decals and more. The Mountie Spirit store is located on the second floor of the Alumni Hall Student Center and open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Textbooks are no longer sold on Campus. Books can be purchased at mansfield.textbooks.com.
Career Center
The Career Center is an integral part of the university and focuses on the relationship between self, education, and careers. It subscribes to the concept that career development is an ongoing, lifelong process, which incorporates self-assessment and career readiness. Students are encouraged to be engaged participants in their own career journey and to develop a relationship with the Career Center starting their first semester on campus.
Both students and alumni are supported with a wide range of services, including career exploration and development, career interest inventories, resume and cover letter writing and critique, job search techniques, practice interview sessions (in-person and virtual), on-campus recruitment interviews, and other various professional development opportunities. A career library of websites, printed, and software-based information covering career options, professional associations, employment trends, internships, job listings, and graduate/professional schools is maintained through the Career Center. Job and internship opportunities are posted electronically through Handshake. Students and alumni can access this free service at career.mansfield.edu. Students are encouraged to engage in Career Center services and programs early in their academic career.
The Career Center is located on the Ground Floor of Alumni Hall and may be reached at 570-662-4133 or careers@mansfield.edu. Appointments are suggested and available in-person, by phone, email, or virtually (via Zoom). For more resources, information about the Career Center and a calendar of events, please visit career.mansfield.edu.
Library
Mansfield University provides information resources both virtually (see the Library Website) and in the historic and elegant 19th century setting of North Hall. The quality resources provide students access to information from around the world. Most resources are accessible regardless of physical location.
The Library is located on the first four floors of North Hall and has several special features to promote the efficient use of information in both printed and electronic forms. The Library has been designed to highlight traditional subject strengths, such as those for music and education, and also to provide immediate access to electronic information via extensive computer networking. If students need help using the resources housed in the Library, there are service points, with the most comprehensive being the Service Desk on the second floor, South wing. The personnel who staff this area can help with traditional reference questions on how to use printed and electronic resources and will also provide advice on equipment problems. Other services include the printed reserve collection, laptops and other multimedia materials, other reserves, and the Microfilms/Periodicals Desk in the North wing of the 1st floor. Printed brochures are available throughout the Library providing answers to commonly asked questions about library resources and services.
A wide range of resources and services are available to support teaching, learning, and research for on-campus students, and for distance education. Detailed information about the library’s collections, policies, fines / fees, and services is available through the Library Website at http://lib.mansfield.edu/ and more specifically http://mansfield.libguides.com/distance for our online population.
A Mansfield University ID card is necessary each time materials are checked out, including library-use-only reserve items. ID cards and circulation privileges are not transferable and are intended for use only by the person in whose name the card was issued. A lost or stolen ID card should be reported immediately at the Service Desk.
General circulating materials such as books, curriculum guides, government documents, pictures, and textbooks circulate for an established period for students. Other item loan types include:
Laptop Computers; Equipment; Media Materials; Reserve Materials; Electronic Reserves so you may access the materials from outside the library and from off campus. Please check with your instructor or the Service Desk personnel to determine if the materials you need are available electronically.
Most items may be renewed in person (please no telephone calls) unless reserved for another patron. Renewals may be made without having the materials present if the patron has a Mansfield University ID card. Patrons also can renew library materials online. (See the Library home page for information on how renew online.)
All materials should be returned to the Circulation Desk. When the Library is closed, books may be deposited in the book return located on the east wall, right of the front entrance. Please do not place media materials in the book return as these materials are easily damaged.
Fines and Fees are subject to change - please see Library Website at http://lib.mansfield.edu/home All patrons are responsible for replacement fees for lost or non-returned items.
The Library uses an electronic security system that detects any materials that are not checked out. Individuals who attempt to leave the Library with materials that have not been checked out from the Library are automatically referred to the University Police.
Please refer to the Library Website at http://lib.mansfield.edu/homefor a more detailed list of Library Operations and Policies/Guidelines as changes occur.
Tobacco products may not be used in the Library. Food and beverages may not be consumed in the Library except in the Visual News section of the Library.
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