The mission of the Academic Success Center is to facilitate students’ successful transition through Samford University by identifying and providing academic resources in a highly collaborative and student-centered manner.
The director works closely with faculty, the admissions office, Career Development, and the counseling offices to provide academic assistance as needed. First-year and transfer students are particularly encouraged to take advantage of the center’s services to facilitate their transition to Samford University.
To ask us a question or request more information on our services, click the button below.
Our Services
The Academic Success Center offers a variety of academic services free of charge to all Samford students.
Individual Academic Consultations
Students may request a consultation with an ASC staff member to discuss academic goals, study strategies, time management, and any other academic needs. To arrange a consultation, please schedule an appointment or send your request to success@samford.edu. Please specify if you need an online consultation or an appointment outside of regular business hours. Note: The scheduler is for currently enrolled Samford students only and requires sign-in with your Samford username and password.
Assistance in Declaring or Changing Majors
ASC staff can provide assistance to any students who are considering declaring a major or changing their current major. For help filling out a change of major form you can request a in-person or virtual consultation by emailing success@samford.edu, or you can access step-by-step instructions. The Career Development Center can also provide in-depth individual assessments and information about jobs and salaries for students in different majors. Admitted students who have not yet attended Orientation should contact Admissions for assistance.
List of Majors Career Development Center
Samford Success
Samford Success is a program for conditionally admitted students that features enhanced academic advising, academic consultations, special programming, and connection to other campus resources. The ASC automatically enrolls conditionally admitted students in the program and contacts them to offer assistance. Students in Samford Success have a guaranteed spot in Foundations 101, our popular first-year experience course.
Foundations
FOUN 101 is a first-year experience course that helps students connect with Samford and foster academic success. Students may take FOUN 101 in the fall of their freshman year. 1 credit.
FOUN 102 provides vocation-centered experience and opportunities for exploring majors, reflecting on calling, and preparing for professional school. 1 credit. FOUN 201 offers upperclassmen the opportunity to be peer mentors for FOUN 101 courses. 0-1 credit.
FOUN 210 allows upperclassmen the opportunity to discuss and reflect on important ideas that cultivate academic and cultural awareness, promote intellectual curiosity and connect with various career paths. 1-2 credits.
First Generation Students
Navigating the tangled web of college policies, procedures, jargon, and expectations can be a challenge - we are here to help.
Prehealth Students
Samford’s prehealth advisor serves as supplemental advisor to students’ primary academic advisor. The prehealth advisor mentors and guides students looking to pursue a career that requires them to attend a graduate health profession program. The prehealth advisor will work with students interested in pursuing a career in a health profession by discussing the different requirements needed by those programs as well as how to become a well-rounded, competitive applicant to their respective program.
Resources for Students
The ASC offers free, drop-in tutoring in several academic subjects during the fall and spring semesters. Each semester’s schedule is posted the second week of classes. Tutoring is not typically offered during summer terms. We encourage students to contact their professors or the ASC for assistance.
Tutoring
Limited availability for drop-in tutoring in select subjects is available and expanded virtual tutoring is available in some subjects by appointment is available during Fall and Spring semesters. The current schedule is available on “Featured Resources” on this page.
If you need help in one or more of your other classes, please complete the form below. We will reply with information on possible resources within one business day. Please email us if you have questions.
Private Tutoring
The ASC maintains a list of private tutors available in various subject areas. Please click the link below and enter your Samford username and password to access the list. Students are responsible for contacting these tutors and arranging tutoring sessions and fees.
In addition to the options above, the following resources may also be useful and are recommended by Samford faculty. Also, please be alert that during this time of transition, many textbook publishers and websites are offering access to study materials at no charge.- Khan Academy offers assistance in a wide variety of subject areas (algebra, precalculus, calculus, biology, chemistry, etc.).
- Grammarly is a free writing assistant.
- Purple Math offers assistance with math coursework up through calculus.
Major Changes
Current students can request major changes through the Registrar’s Office. Step-by-step instructions available below.
Registration and Schedule Changes
The registration schedule is posted on the Office of the Registrar webpage, but if you need step-by-step instructions on how to register for classes or make schedule changes, view our instructions.
Study Resources
Take advantage of these study tips and resources. If you would like to discuss one or more of these topics, please contact the ASC to arrange an individual consultation.
Accessibility and Accommodations
If you would like to request a learning accommodation or a consultation to discuss accommodations, please contact Accessibility and Accommodations or visit the office’s website. This office serves as the primary campus resource for students with disabilities. Accessibility and Accommodations works individually with each student to determine appropriate accommodations to ensure access to programs, activities and services.
Accessibility and Accommodations
Counseling Services
If you are in need of professional counseling services, please contact the office of Counseling Services & Wellness Programs. Counseling Services provides consultations, evaluations, limited assessments, crisis intervention, short-term exploratory psychotherapy, and educational outreach programming. The office’s services are free of charge to Samford students.
University Library
The University Library is the primary campus resource for research and study space. If you need assistance researching a topic for a class assignment, contact the library research staff or the Ask Us! page.
Office of the Registrar
If you need to obtain or turn in forms relating to declaring a major, changing a major, transcripts, class registration, graduation, or other academic needs, please visit the Office of the Registrar online or in person. Our office can assist you in obtaining and completing academic forms, but students must turn academic forms in to the Office of the Registrar.
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) specifies students’ rights to control parts of their educational record. To indicate your preferences regarding who may access your academic record, go to Portal > Personal Information > Student FERPA Agreement and complete the form.
CARE Team
Students who are facing non-academic challenges may receive support from the CARE Team. The CARE Team (Communicate, Assess, Resource, Educate) is a group of faculty and staff members from across campus that exists to help students of concern remain successful in and out of the classroom, to make a referral or learn more about how they assist students visit Samford Cares.
Class Attendance
One of the most vital aspects of a residential university experience is attendance and punctuality in the classroom. The classroom is the place where each student contributes to the learning experience of his or her classmates; therefore, the value of the classroom academic experience cannot be fully measured by testing procedures alone. Class attendance policies are established by each school at the University, and specific attendance requirements are indicated in the syllabus of each class. Complete information regarding official university excused absences can be found in the catalog.
Health-Related Absences
Excused absences from classes may be due to a documented disability or unanticipated medical issue (i.e. injury, sudden illness). In the case of the former, all documentation is received, reviewed, and managed by Accessibility and Accommodations according to their established guidelines and students can generate accommodation letters to faculty. In the latter, faculty will be informed either by the Academic Success Center (after a review and determination is made by the CARE team) or students should provide documentation directly to faculty. Only if an unanticipated medical issue will lead to a temporary or permanent disability does Accessibility and Accommodations need to be involved.
Bereavement-Related Absences
Bereavement-Related Absences: In the event a student experiences the death of a significant member of his or her family or community, the University may excuse absences up to five days for travel and bereavement. The Provost office will notify advisors and instructors of excused absences. It will be the responsibility of the student to follow up with faculty regarding missed exams, quizzes and required work for the class. To initiate a request for bereavement leave, please complete a Bereavement Request Form on the Samford CARES page.
Resources for Parents
We encourage parents to direct their students to our office to take advantage of our resources. We work to meet individual student needs and can best do so by speaking directly with a student.
Private Tutors for Samford Students
The ASC maintains a list of private tutors available in various subject areas. Students may click the link and enter their Samford username and password to access the list. Students are responsible for contacting these tutors and arranging tutoring sessions and fees. Only students may access this list.
Private Tutors for Non-Samford Students
If you would like to hire a Samford student to tutor your non-Samford student, you may post your request as an available position at HireSamford.com, powered by Handshake. Once there, sign up for an employer account and use your family name as the employer, such as “The Bill Smith Family”. After your registration has been approved, you can post any number of positions you would like and chose Samford as the university to which you would like to post them. This is a free service. When you have posted a position, you may email the Academic Success Center, and we will alert available private tutors of the new posting.
Academic Calendar
The Office of the Registrar publishes Samford’s academic calendar. You may view the calendars for the next several semesters on the Office of the Registrar’s website. The academic calendar contains important dates for adding or dropping classes without financial penalty or academic penalty. The calendar also indicates when registration begins for the next semester and when midterm and final grades are posted.
Academic Advising
Every Samford student is assigned an academic advisor. If your student has questions about his/her advisor, please encourage your student to contact our office. If you believe that your student may need to change majors, please encourage your student to make an appointment with the Career Development Center, meet with an advisor in the new department to learn about the potential new major, and/or contact our office at any point for assistance.
Study Abroad
Samford’s Global Engagement Office offers a variety of study abroad opportunities. However, taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful academic and financial planning. Visit the Global Engagement Office’s website for more information.
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) specifies students’ rights to control parts of their educational record. Students can consent to allow access to their academic records by completing an online form on Portal > Personal Information > Student FERPA Agreement. If you would like to learn more about FERPA restrictions, please visit the Office of the Registrar’s website.
CARE Team
Students who are facing non-academic challenges may receive support from the CARE Team. The CARE Team (Communicate, Assess, Resource, Educate) is a group of faculty and staff members from across campus that exists to help students of concern remain successful in and out of the classroom, to make a referral or learn more about how they assist students visit Samford Cares.
Class Attendance
One of the most vital aspects of a residential university experience is attendance and punctuality in the classroom. The classroom is the place where each student contributes to the learning experience of his or her classmates; therefore, the value of the classroom academic experience cannot be fully measured by testing procedures alone. Class attendance policies are established by each school at the University, and specific attendance requirements are indicated in the syllabus of each class. Complete information regarding official university excused absences can be found in the catalog.
Health-Related Absences
Excused absences from classes may be due to a documented disability or unanticipated medical issue (i.e. injury, sudden illness). In the case of the former, all documentation is received, reviewed, and managed by Accessibility and Accommodations according to their established guidelines and students can generate accommodation letters to faculty. In the latter, faculty will be informed either by the Academic Success Center (after a review and determination is made by the CARE team) or students should provide documentation directly to faculty. Only if an unanticipated medical issue will lead to a temporary or permanent disability does Accessibility and Accommodations need to be involved.
Bereavement-Related Absences
Bereavement-Related Absences: In the event a student experiences the death of a significant member of his or her family or community, the University may excuse absences up to five days for travel and bereavement. The Provost office will notify advisors and instructors of excused absences. It will be the responsibility of the student to follow up with faculty regarding missed exams, quizzes and required work for the class. To initiate a request for bereavement leave, please complete a Bereavement Request Form on the Samford CARES page.
Resources for Faculty
We encourage faculty to take advantage of the resources below. However, faculty should always address concerns with their department chair and/or dean.
Student Concerns
If a student misses multiple class sessions in a row without contacting you, please email the Academic Success Center to notify us of the student’s absences. If you are concerned about a student’s abnormal behavior, please check the Student Concerns and Crises guide to determine the appropriate response. If you are unsure of the appropriate response, submit a CARE team form.
Student Tracking
A progress report campaign is an electronic student feedback request emailed to faculty from the Academic Success Center. Normally, we send out two campaigns a year – one in the third week of the semester and one prior to the final deadline to withdraw from a class. The ASC tracks several student populations and thus requests feedback on how selected students are performing in your course(s). The purpose of these campaigns is to increase student retention and promote academic success.
The campaigns target “at risk” student populations as well as students who may not be “at risk” but have additional requirements for NCAA standards or academic programs. Other populations may have non-academic concerns that require extra support and communication.
The ASC uses this information to support students by connecting them to relevant resources, tracking their academic progress, and/or offering our office’s services. Additionally, if a faculty member marks a student as at risk in a class, an automatic notification is sent to the student’s advisor(s).
Referring to the Academic Success Center
The Academic Success Center provides general academic assistance to all students. Accessibility and Accommodations provides specific types of assistance to students with disabilities. Please see Accessibility and Accommodations for more information about your responsibilities to students with testing accommodations for disabilities.
If a student seems to be struggling with time management, academic skills, organization, class attendance, or other such issues, please encourage the student to make an appointment for an academic consultation by emailing us. Additionally, we can help connect students with resources if they are struggling with class content. We can also assist students in connecting with the relevant contacts on campus when students are considering academic policies, changing majors and minors, or otherwise need administrative assistance with academic matters.
Accessibility and Accommodations
FERPA
The Office of the Registrar provides information detailing your responsibilities as a faculty member regarding FERPA.
Health-Related Absences
Excused absences from classes may be due to a documented disability or unanticipated medical issue (i.e. injury, sudden illness). In the case of the former, all documentation is received, reviewed, and managed by Accessibility and Accommodations according to their established guidelines and students can generate accommodation letters to faculty. In the latter, faculty will be informed either by the Academic Success Center (after a review and determination is made by the CARE team) or students should provide documentation directly to faculty. Only if an unanticipated medical issue will lead to a temporary or permanent disability does Accessibility and Accommodations need to be involved.
Bereavement-Related Absences
Bereavement-Related Absences: In the event a student experiences the death of a significant member of his or her family or community, the University may excuse absences up to five days for travel and bereavement. The Provost office will notify advisors and instructors of excused absences. It will be the responsibility of the student to follow up with faculty regarding missed exams, quizzes and required work for the class. To initiate a request for bereavement leave, please complete a Bereavement Request Form on the Samford CARES page.
Alpha Lambda Delta
Mission
The mission of Alpha Lambda Delta is to encourage superior academic achievement among students in their first year in institutions of higher education, to promote intelligent living and a continued high standard of learning, and to assist students in recognizing and developing meaningful goals for their roles in society. Samford’s chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta was chartered in 1958.
Selection Process
Initiation into Samford’s chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta is for first-year students who are in the top twenty percent (20%) of their class and have a minimum first-semester GPA of 3.5, although in most years the GPA for the top 20% is much higher. Students must earn at least 12 credit hours during their first semester to be eligible for induction, and an induction ceremony is held every Spring.
Some responses are adapted from the National Alpha Lambda Delta website. For more information, see www.NationalALD.org
Officers for 2024-2025
President: Lila Zadan
VP: Sophia Revis
Secretary: Jaycee Andrews
Treasurer: Katherine Houser
Social Media & Marketing Chair: Karis Williamson
Events & Scholarship Chair: Jordyn Davis
Belonging Co-Chairs: Caroline Altman & Lilly Grimes
Academic Programs & Career Development Co-Chairs: Wade Mason & Mary Scruggs
Service/ Philanthropy Co-Chairs: Hannah Hodgin & Carolina Acosta
Advisor: Ms. Kristin Newberry
Our Team
