Striving for Student Success

Hope Tulchinsky has joined the Center for Student Success and First Year Experience staff at the University of Mississippi as a success coach for the College of Liberal Arts to help students navigate their college experience and beyond.

Tulchinsky will serve as an advocate and helper for students to get connected to their resources and opportunities at UM. She is one of four new success coaches across campus who are overseen by Kyle Ellis, director of the Center for Student Success and First Year Experience.

The other coaches assist students in the Department of General Studies, the School of Business Administration and the School of Applied Sciences.

“I am looking forward to having the opportunity to help students get to their next step in life; to be there for them in the hard times and to celebrate them in the good times,” Tulchinsky said. “I think even if I only support one student through to their graduation, I will feel successful in my job.”

Her role as a success coach will provide multi-level help for students, acting as a bridge between multiple offices on campus and providing nonacademic support. She will connect students with Career Services staff to help them think about their future and career aspirations.

She also will assist students with time management, study skills, academic progress and achieving their short- and long-term goals.

Tulchinsky will work predominantly with sophomore, junior and senior students. Freshman are not included in her responsibilities because of the vast resources available to them through Fastrack and Orientation programs and the first-year experience courses through the Department of Higher Education.

She envisions her role as relationship-driven and hopes to form lasting connections with students while building a community of trust.

A graduate of Elon University, Tulchinsky moved to Oxford in 2014 when her husband, Peter, was hired as Ole Miss director of campus recreation. Not long after arriving in Oxford, she began working toward a master’s degree in higher education administration.

Following graduation from this program, Tulchinsky continued to work for the university as assistant director of admissions and an instructor of the first-year experience courses.

“The addition of a success coach to the college’s broad range of services will greatly benefit our students,” said Carmen Riggan, the college’s director of student services.

“Hope has had a great start helping freshmen students navigate their first year of college life as an instructor of the first-year experience course. I am confident she will be a great resource for our students as they continue their college careers.”