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Hi, UM Griz parents and families! My name is Brian French, and I’m the Executive Director of UM’s Office for Student Success (OSS). OSS houses several programs that make up the hub of academic support for students at the University. We work closely with other student support units all over campus and can help connect students with appropriate resources throughout their time at UM. 

Two areas of support for students that OSS houses or coordinates include advising and tutoring. 

We coordinate academic advising and house the Undergraduate Advising Center (UAC), which is the advising home for students who haven’t decided on a major. It’s okay for students to be undecided when they start their college experience! The UAC helps students survey their options through the Exploratory Studies Program so they can make informed decisions about their major. Department-specific advisors are located across campus and are assigned to students based on their majors.  

Our main tutoring programs are the Math Learning Center in the Math Building, and Study Jam and the Writing Center in the Mansfield Library.  

We also house UM’s Financial Education Program, which helps students understand financial aid options, complete the FAFSA, and prepare for a successful financial future. 

UM’s TRIO programs are housed in OSS. TRIO is a federal grant program that works to help students succeed in college by providing holistic support throughout their time at UM. Students can apply to be a part of TRIO if they are the first generation in the family to attend college, have a lower socioeconomic status, typically by having a Pell Grant in their financial aid package, or have a documented physical or learning disability. 

OSS manages UM’s COLS (College Success) 194, You at UM: Curiosity and Life Design First Year Experience workshop, which works with new students to apply the design thinking toolkit in their pursuit of clear academic, personal, and career goals.  

Lastly, we manage Navigate, a student-facing mobile app used to schedule appointments, communicate important dates and information, and gather instructor feedback on how students are doing in their courses. Students can use “Hand Raise” in Navigate to let us know they need help anytime, and they can find other students to study with through Study Buddies in the Navigate app.  

We’re here to help and look forward to seeing your student on campus!