By Noah Heiing
BLUFFTON, Ohio— Christy Garmatter has transitioned into the role of director of student success while also continuing her role as a tutor.
The role of the director of student success is a role new this year to Bluffton. This role came out of the work with Credo in the university’s Moving the Needle initiative. Moving the Needle intends to help improve the student experience at Bluffton by looking at different areas on campus, such as Learn and Earn, academic advising and early intervention for student success. The main goal of the Moving the Needle initiative is to improve retention. Bluffton has a 67.3% retention rate for students from their first to second year, according to Bluffton University’s website and the National Center for Education Statistics.
Garmatter will oversee the Bluffton 360 (B360) platform. This is a brand-new platform created to help collect student data from different locations across campus, such as Academic Affairs and Residence Life, instructors, supervisors and advisors. This platform will help the university identify student needs to provide intervention initiatives to help students succeed.
Along with overseeing the B360 platform and creating student success initiatives, Garmatter will add some new responsibilities, such as overseeing new student orientation. Garmatter will continue to teach Becoming a Scholar, assist with the cross-cultural trip to Ecuador and oversee the tutoring.
“My main role, which I am pretty excited about, is the relationship building aspect with students,” said Garmatter. “I already have a pretty good grasp on that but now I get to explore the broader student population.”
Garmatter’s new role places her in Student Life. Garmatter is excited to work with the other members of Student Life and to attend more campus events.
“We are excited about having Christy in this new role,” said Mark Bourassa, dean of students. “She is really well-suited for this position. She has such great background and the personality to help build relationships with students.”
Garmatter hopes to get to know them and help students and help them succeed at the university.
“My biggest wish is that students feel comfortable coming to talk to me about anything,” said Garmatter. “I want students after they leave Bluffton to they feel like they had people that actually cared about them.”
Students are excited about Garmatter’s transition into her new role and recognize her emphasis on building relationships.
“If you ever talk to Christy, you can just tell how she wants to help you succeed,” said Ashley Kloeker, sophomore Mathematics AYA major and Garmatter’s Becoming a Scholar class mentor. “Christy is very personable and will help you deal with any problems you may face, whether with acdemics or in your personal life.”
Garmatter’s office is in the lower level of Marbeck Center, steps away from The Commons. Garmatter wants students to know she has an open-door policy. If her door is open, students are more than welcome to come in her office. “Also, just a note out there to all my LRC guys,” said Garmatter. “Just because I am not in the LRC, I still expect you to come see me!”
