Educational Persistence

At Seattle University, we pride ourselves on having several program and offices available for students to use as resources, providing support to make their college experience in Seattle amazing. One such office on campus is going above and beyond to support students. 

The Student Persistence Office is a department that is available for students who are struggling due to barriers that are preventing them to persist in their education. Some barriers may relate to financial troubles, mental health problems and social conflicts. 

The office started in 2018 and assists undergraduate and graduate students by pointing them in the direction of what’s available to them across campus, connecting with students one-on-one.

To gain more perspective and information about its services, I spoke to staff members Carly Darcher, director of Premajor Studies & Student Persistence, Natasha Malyuk, advising services coordinator, and Mayra Santoyo, Student Persistence specialist. 

“We want to support students but it’s also important that as staff members we have the chance to think and reflect on the work we are doing. My hope moving forward is to collaborate with other offices because we want to open conversations for students to break down barriers preventing them from feeling like they belong on campus,” says Malyuk. 

The office’s priorities in the near term include assisting with more accessibility for undocumented students, working closely with admissions—particularly around the issue of need funding—and increasing the university’s emergency funding to help students dealing with adverse circumstances.

“Students have issues around feeling a sense of belonging on campus and often times they can have conversations with our office because although we work with everyone, we are still independent,” says Darcher.

“That’s really valuable because it makes our advice and opinions unbiased,” says Santoyo. Moving forward, the Student Persistence Office hopes to raise awareness about what they offer and do outreach with the campus community at large.

Learn more about the Student Persistence Office.