Student Navigation Office returns
By Zyheim Bell
Continuing the mission of providing support to students and a sense of belonging at Rider, the university has launched initiatives to reinstate the Student Navigation Office according to an email from Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Kelly Bidle.
The office will reopen this semester after a brief hiatus. Bidle’s Jan. 23 facultywide email read, “[SNO] will open its doors this semester in its new location on the third floor of the BLC.”
The program, before being sunsetted in fall 2024, aimed to provide first-year students, transfers and adult learners an individual support coach in an effort to assist and nurture them through their first year at Rider and beyond, according to an archive of the program’s web page — and according to the Director of Student Involvement and First Year Programs Kadi Diallo, that message initiative has not changed.
“At the core of it, SNO has been reimplemented because it is evident that there is a level of continuity that students need in terms of the moment they touch campus beyond orientation,” Diallo said.
As one of the members from Rider’s faculty and staff chosen to help with SNO, Diallo sees that the program will provide a way for those new to campus and the college environment to make the most out of the opportunities that Rider offers to them.
SNO was originally implemented into the university in July 2020 under Rider’s previous “Lifting Barriers Initiative,” run by navigation coaches employed to work with students entering Rider for the first time.
The program mandated a four-week course that taught students how to navigate Rider, with services provided by the Financial Aid office, the Academic Success Center and other resources that would help them succeed in the first year.
Now with its re-implementation SNO will have members across disciplines there to step in and provide new students with the information and tools they need.
“I myself am one of the SNO volunteers, but there are a lot of well-versed individuals that are very connected to students that understand the challenges students experience in the first year,” Diallo shared.
However, students will not just have faculty and staff members to count on. Diallo mentioned that the program will always have a mission of interconnectedness, whether that means making sure students have access to resources like the Counseling Center or another peer.
“There is definitely going to be that connection piece, not only student to student, but to student to staff … Think of SNO as a space where you can get your questions answered and you can get holistic support,” said Diallo. “Whether it is academic services or you just need to be directed in the right place, that is what the SNO office is for.”
As a first-generation college student herself, Diallo encourages students to understand that SNO and its team is there to help.
She said, “This is a really great conduit for students to get holistic support … it puts the focus back on ‘how can we support students from all angles?’”
