Mission and Goals

The mission of SASP is to help students respond effectively to specific academic challenges, articulate and achieve educational goals, and successfully complete the undergraduate curriculum. Our specialists help students build success from the beginning through both developmental and accelerated programs designed to maximize their learning potential, personal adjustment, and academic performance.  

The goals of the staff of Student Academic Success Programs are:

• to support new students in their transition to the academic culture of the university;

• to assist students in developing comprehensive, advanced reading, learning and executive functioning strategies in order to apply these global skills to specific coursework challenges; 

• to offer services that encourage students to build confidence in their abilities to learn and to overcome the challenges they may confront at SMU; 

• to offer services that strengthen—and where necessary develop—the foundational skills (mathematical literacy, reading, writing, computer literacy, critical thinking) that are central to continued academic success;

• to offer services that support students' pursuit of the institution's most challenging programs of study; 

• to ensure that the Center's administrative practices, operating principles, and staff development activities are designed to further the academic well-being of SMU's undergraduates.

As part of the SMU campus community, SASP staff cares about student growth and well-being. We pledge to foster faculty/staff-student relationships of trust and collaborate with students to create a learning experience that upholds values respecting the unique identities and basic human rights carried by all students. An elaboration of these values can be found here: www.smu.edu/values.