Connecting you to resources, community, and success from Student Affairs at Michigan Tech
Welcome to the Student Affairs blog—your hub for practical advice, campus insights, and stories that matter to your Michigan Tech experience. Whether you’re navigating your first semester or preparing for graduation, we’re here to support your journey with timely information and genuine perspectives from the people who work with students every day.
Director of Residence Education
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
If someone asked what Residence Education does at its core, I would say that we are the campus connectors. This starts before students even know their room assignment and certainly lasts throughout their time living in the residence halls.
While we begin connecting students before they arrive through our Roommate Matching process, once they step foot on campus, we help them connect with each other. Residence hall students have the opportunity to complete a roommate agreement, participate in social events, and interact with others through interactive bulletin boards in their communities.
Beyond helping students find social connections, we also connect them to resources across campus — both proactively and reactively. Proactively, our Resident Assistants promote events organized by campus partners. They take students to K-Day, help them sign up for Cardboard Boats, and coach them through Career Fair preparations. All of these activities support students before they get homesick or struggle with a course. Some of our snapshot survey data shows these efforts are working — 79.44% of the 851 student respondents report they can have a meaningful conversation with 3 or more people, and fewer than 5% said they are not having meaningful conversations with anyone.
We also use campus connections reactively. When someone uses the Report a Concern page to share that a student isn’t attending class, isn’t finding social support, or is struggling with mental health concerns, Residence Education staff are often the ones knocking on the door to check in. We ask questions to help determine what types of connections or encouragement a student may need. Through our on-call system, a Residence Education Coordinator (REC) is available 24/7 as an initial contact and to help connect students with the most appropriate resource. RECs receive about 180 after-hours calls per academic year.
When our team attended the Martin Luther King Jr. Day banquet, we invited a student to join us at our table. They accepted, and we spent the evening getting to know them. They were a first-year student attending events to explore their interests and learn about potential involvement opportunities. Later that week, I invited them to a meeting for an organization I advise. Shortly after, they ran for an executive board position — and were elected. Our team can share endless stories like this. You never know when a simple connection will change a student’s path.
If you know someone who may need extra support or a friendly face to check in, the Residence Education team is here to help.
The Division of Student Affairs aims to celebrate, support, and inspire all students. Residence Education, through the Residential Learning Model, expands on this by focusing on helping students build resilience. One of our learning outcomes states that students will embrace an adaptive mindset — understanding the differences between a fixed and growth mindset and identifying opportunities for adaptive thinking.
One key example of how we engage with this concept is through roommate conflicts. For many students, living in a residence hall may be the first time they have shared personal space with someone. Some roommate groups start as complete strangers. Having a roommate can be both exciting and daunting — there are moments of joy, anxiety, and plenty of uncomfortable situations. When those challenges arise, students may ask for a room change. The first response from our staff is likely “no.” However, “no” does not mean we aren’t going to support the student.
Supporting them typically involves an in-depth conversation with a professional staff member about the issues at hand, as well as a discussion of what steps the student has already taken to address them. “One of the central elements of resilience…is perception: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow?” (Konnikova, 2016). Students who approach roommate conflicts with a desire to learn new skills and actively participate in the resolution process tend to work things out without needing to move. We aim to help students develop a growth mindset in those moments. While a roommate may be doing things that feel uncomfortable or frustrating, students still have agency — they can learn to advocate for themselves through a one-on-one conversation or a mediated discussion with a staff member. These experiences build confidence for navigating difficult conversations in the future.
These issues often arise during stressful times — around breaks, before exams, or when a student has other things on their mind. Our department is here to support students through roommate conflicts and any other challenges. If you know a student who may need assistance with their living situation, please connect them with one of our staff members.
Executive Director, Career Services
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Navigating the world of work has never been more challenging for college students. They’re entering a landscape defined by rapid technological change, shifting employer expectations, and entirely new forms of work. It’s no surprise that students today are asking more pointed questions about their futures — not just what they want to do, but how to build the skills, experiences, and confidence that will get them there. Academic achievement remains essential, but it’s no longer the whole story. Student success now requires both academic preparation and the practical skills and experiences employers expect — not just one or the other.
Recent reporting from Inside Higher Ed underscores what we see every day at Michigan Tech: students overwhelmingly want internships, co‑ops, and other forms of applied learning. They view these experiences as essential to career readiness — to test their skills, understand industry expectations, and gain clarity about their professional paths.
This lines up with Michigan Tech’s long-standing culture of experiential learning, including hands-on learning. Our students have always been builders, problem‑solvers, and doers. Their expectations reflect a broader national shift, one that places career-aligned learning at the center of a meaningful college education.
Students aren’t the only ones calling for more intentional career preparation. A recent national survey shows that higher education leaders rank workforce development as their top priority heading into 2026 — ahead of enrollment pressures, financial concerns, and other institutional challenges.
When student expectations and institutional priorities converge this clearly, universities have an opportunity to respond with clarity and purpose. Meeting this moment requires coordination across academic departments, student services, employer partnerships, and applied-learning programs. It requires a shared understanding of what career readiness looks like today.
The world of work is shifting at a clip that outpaces what any curriculum alone can cover. Harvard Business Review highlights nine major trends shaping work in 2026 and beyond, from AI’s uneven return on investment to shifting talent expectations and widening skills gaps. These forces are reshaping what employers need and how students must prepare.
Students feel this acceleration. They’re navigating uncertainty, emerging technologies, and new expectations around adaptability, communication, and problem‑solving. They need support interpreting these trends and connecting them to their own goals.
Career Services sits at the intersection of all these forces. Our role is not simply to help students find jobs after graduation. It’s to serve as the integrator that connects academic learning with real‑world application, translates employer needs into student opportunities, and helps students navigate a rapidly changing landscape.
We work across campus to ensure that students have access to the experiences, skills, and networks that prepare them for meaningful careers. We build and sustain the employer partnerships that make applied learning possible. And we help students make sense of the future of work, empowering them to move forward with clarity and confidence.
Last year, I discussed the idea of a career ecosystem, a coordinated, campus‑wide approach to student success. Our students benefit from a rich array of experiential opportunities, including Enterprise, co‑ops, APMP, RSOs, and study abroad. These programs give students a competitive edge and prepare them to be self‑aware, resilient, and globally minded.
Our employer partnerships are strong and growing. The University’s exceptional employment outcomes — including a record career placement rate and a median early career salary of $82,400 — are not accidental. They reflect a campus community committed to integrating academic excellence, applied learning, and career readiness.
As we look ahead, our focus remains clear: to prepare students not just for their first job, but for a lifetime of work in a world that continues to evolve. That requires an ecosystem approach that brings together students, faculty, employers, and future‑of‑work insights in a coordinated, student‑centered way.
Career Services is proud to play this integrative role, and we will continue to evolve, collaborate, and innovate to ensure that every Michigan Tech student is equipped to thrive in whatever comes next.
Assistant Dean of Student Success and Director of the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Student Disability Services is an office that students, families, and even faculty and staff may have misconceptions about. Over the last few years, Student Disability Services has been working to ensure correct, quality information is available to the campus community. To continue those efforts, the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success chose to focus our January insights article on how Student Disability Services supports our students.
A student can, and should, connect with Student Disability Services before their first semester enrolled. This helps both the student and their family have dedicated time to connect with a staff member in Student Disability Services (SDS) before classes begin. While we do encourage a student to reach out to SDS on their own, we understand that during the transition from high school to college, a parent or family member can be very helpful. They can help the student understand how documentation works, where to get documentation, and what types of support the student may have had in the past.
Once a student connects with SDS and provides documentation from an appropriate healthcare provider, our office enters their accommodations into our system. It is important to know that our office does not input a diagnosis, only an accommodation, protecting the students’ health information.
Once a student has their accommodations in place, they are provided instructions on how to send those out to their instructors for that semester. The student does get to choose which instructors they send information to; they do not need to send them to every instructor if they do not want to.
If a student does not choose to send out their accommodations within the first few weeks of the semester, they will need to reconnect with SDS if they choose to send out a notification to their instructors at a later date. Students are provided with not only instructions on how to send accommodations to their instructors but also reminders about what their responsibilities are. Student Disability Services encourages students to take ownership of their needs while at Tech; this builds their confidence to advocate for themselves beyond their college career.
For students who may not have a diagnosis or documentation, our office will work with the student to help them either identify options to get the needed documentation or find ways to overcome some of the barriers they are experiencing outside of official accommodations. Student Disability Services goes beyond being the keepers of documentation; we consistently meet with students to ensure they are learning how to navigate the complexities of higher education.
On the faculty and staff side, our case manager, Margaret, has been reaching out to departments across campus. She has offered to attend one of their department meetings to provide a refresher on what SDS does and what the responsibilities of faculty and staff are in this process. Our office would like to continue building this partnership between SDS and departments on campus. If your department has questions or would like for us to come talk at a department meeting, please contact sds@mtu.edu.
Our office knows that many of our students who need accommodations are not connecting with us. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 21% of undergraduate students report having a disability, while only about 11% of our undergraduates at Tech are reporting their needs to Student Disability Services. This could be for many reasons including: no documentation, not knowing an office exists, or the stigma around asking for help. Student Disability Services hopes that by spreading the word about what we do, more students will be encouraged to connect with our office. Receiving needed accommodations is not something to be ashamed of; it’s an important part of a student’s success.
Director, Student Support and Mentorship
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Michigan Tech values every student, regardless of their background or prior experience with higher education. A message displayed on campus signs during Hazing Awareness Week this October perfectly captured this sentiment: “You don’t have to earn your place in our pack.”
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Director of Student Leadership and Involvement
When we see students building a cardboard boat during Homecoming or hosting an event by the Husky Statue, we see more than just fun and games. We see a critical part of their education. In Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI), we witness students’ active engagement in the Michigan Tech community every day. And while we know from experience that these moments are essential to their development and retention, it’s affirming to see a growing body of national research confirm the link between campus activities and student success.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Director, Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially relevant when addressing substance misuse among college students. This period of transition—marked by new freedoms and pressures—can make students vulnerable to risky behaviors. Whether you are faculty, staff, or a concerned friend, you can be the first to notice when a student is struggling with health or wellness. To better support our entire campus community in this shared responsibility, the Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being (CSMHW) is launching a comprehensive, grant-funded campaign to equip our community with new tools for substance misuse prevention and intervention.
Assistant Dean of Community Conduct
The Office of Academic and Community Conduct regularly handles reports beginning with “Someone said something that made me uncomfortable/offended/unsafe…”. We navigate these situations within First Amendment constraints, civil rights obligations, and University policy and mission requirements. Freedom of speech and expression concerns can involve intense emotions but our office is here to support you in many ways.
Dean of Students and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Day one brings excitement and energy to campus, but beneath the joy of reunions and new beginnings, many students face serious personal challenges through the transitions. Military duty, family deaths, illness, mental health struggles, financial difficulties, and medical diagnoses don’t pause for the semester. Many students are figuring out how to navigate these crises alone for the first time, away from their support systems.
The Early Intervention Team, also known as EIT, is responsible for reviewing and screening potential at-risk students and critical situations. The Early Intervention Team uses evidence-based strategies to identify early indicators of potential risks and harms to self and others. Through their efforts, the team can help at-risk students before they experience crisis.