Program Contact Information

Website:

https://www.rcc.mass.edu/current-students/student-success.html

Email:

StudentSuccess@rcc.mass.edu

Telephone:

(857) 701-1410

Student Success @ RCC

About the Program:

Roxbury Community College is committed to ensuring that every student who matriculates can feel successful. RCC’s SUCCESS (Supporting Urgent Community College Equity Through Student Services) Program is part of the Commonwealth’s overall SUCCESS initiative to support underserved and historically underrepresented students.

A core function of SUCCESS is to serve as a primary advocate for students, helping them navigate the institution and overcome challenges. Through the SUCCESS Program, RCC is enhancing wrap around support for our students by providing comprehensive, personalized support to SUCCESS students to help them transition, persist, and achieve their academic goals. Support such as academic advising, coaching, training, and self-empowerment are tailored to each student’s unique needs, strengths, and goals. Some of the students who successfully complete their first year will serve as mentors for students who will participate next semester.

A critical enhancement has been the intentional reformation of responsive student empowerment groups. Retention and persistence rates are strongly correlated with a student’s sense of belonging, validation, and psychological safety. When students are recruited into empowerment groups led by staff who share their cultural background, it immediately reduces the cognitive and emotional energy spent navigating unfamiliar or potentially biased systems. This shared identity fosters an environment of trust and psychological safety, making students more comfortable disclosing the non-course-related concerns that impact their persistence.

These groups operate using a trauma-informed lens, recognizing that many students face ongoing trauma. The groups build trust by creating clear expectations and consistent, reliable support. The goal of the program is to develop peer support through staff mentoring, thereby creating community where students realize their struggles are not isolated incidents. The groups will focus on student strengths, giving them voice, supported by leaders who often possess a deeper, lived understanding of the barriers that disproportionately affect RCC students.

Students are identified as SUCCESS eligible and are invited to join SUCCESS during their first advising appointment. They may opt out at any time. Likewise, any RCC student interested in specialized support services may ask to join the program by contacting a SUCCESS Advisor, the Director of Advising or a Student Affairs staff member. All SUCCESS students at RCC are supported by the program for a defined period. The length of time varies according to students earned credits and their academic success. If they achieve these metrics, students are transitioned to a faculty or professional advisor outside of SUCCESS but will continue to be offered support and programming until they reach graduation.

Student Eligibility

Qualifying SUCCESS students fall under three specific categories: Historically underrepresented in higher education (Students who might struggle with access and transition to college), Low-income (Eligible for Pell) and first generation (First in their family to attend college. Neither parent has earned a bachelor’s degree). While SUCCESS focuses on these categories all RCC students can opt into the SUCCESS Program.

Students who are eligible for the SUCCESS program at RCC include:

Cohort Focus Population

In line with the legislative intent to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable student populations, the use of SUCCESS services at RCC among the following populations is actively tracked and encouraged:

Support Services

The following supports are available to SUCCESS students at RCC:

Support Network

SUCCESS at RCC is staffed by four Success Advisor/Coaches, one Assistant Director of Wellness, and a Director of Advising who works in collaboration with support services across the college. General population SUCCESS students, and specialized affinity group students receive a network of support that caters to their specific needs. For example, students are offered non-academic support services through Project Access to connect them to community support services such as housing, food assistance, T-Passes, mental health counseling agencies, and childcare as well as access to an on-campus food pantry.

SUCCESS receives funding through the Massachusetts legislature and is supported by the 15 state community colleges, the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC), the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE), and the SUCCESS Leadership and Coordinating Committees.