COSAM News Articles 2022 August COSAM’s Office of Student Services eager to support students with an event-filled fall semester

COSAM’s Office of Student Services eager to support students with an event-filled fall semester

Published: 08/22/2022

By: Leslie Leak

With the arrival of fall semester, the newly structured Office of Student Services in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, is poised to fully support COSAM students through advising, pre-health, recruitment and scholarship and career services.

Over the summer, the office recognized the exceptional service and leadership of Beth Yarbrough, COSAM Director of Student Services, and Beverley Childress, Director of Pre-Health Programs, who both celebrated retirements. Childress will return September 1 to support the office in a part-time position as COSAM Pre-Health Internship Coordinator.

Additionally, COSAM Student Services has welcomed new hires and expanded its services. Eric Hall joined COSAM as Director of Student Services effective June 21 having previously served as Assistant Director of Career Services in the College of Liberal Arts. Meagon Bryant joined COSAM as the college’s first Career Development Manager effective April 11 having previously served as Career Coach in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business. Effective August 16, Anna Traylor, who previously served as a COSAM academic advisor, began her new role as Assistant Director of Pre-Health Services. One organizational change of note is that Pre-Health is now structured under the umbrella of the Office of Student Services.

The office is uniquely structured to provide services in academic advising, pre-health, recruitment and scholarships and career development.

With six advisors on staff to help students set goals and remain on track academically, COSAM Student Services revamped their advising model last year to emphasize more intentional conversations with students. Advisors meet with students prior to registration and during each semester to discuss what they can do to help support them and prepare them for success. Conversations with freshmen are geared toward forming connectivity to campus, while sophomore meetings are structured around parallel planning to help clarify goals and monitor progress. Junior advising sessions focus on career readiness, and seniors work with advisors to not only plan for graduation but discuss academic goals beyond Auburn.

COSAM Student Services also offers pre-health advising services structured to provide guidance to students who are interested in attending professional schools for medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant and anesthesiologist assistant career paths. The pre-health advising program assists students in reaching their professional school goals through individual and group appointments, entrance test preparation, guidance through the professional school application process, and shadowing and internship opportunities.

Additionally, COSAM Student Services has a dedicated recruitment and scholarship coordinator, Will Blakeley. Blakeley is responsible for advising prospective students about their major options, managing COSAM tours and managing the college’s scholarship process. He also serves as the advisor for COSAM Leaders, a group of COSAM juniors and seniors who represent the college as its official student ambassadors.

The newest division in COSAM Student Services is Career Services, which is structured to provide students with free career counseling, ways to learn about job search strategies, access to on-campus recruiting opportunities and information to get an early start on landing a dream career. Headed by Bryant, COSAM Career Services is planning for a foundational semester this fall, and students can schedule one-on-one appointments with Bryant in Handshake. Other happenings this semester–all accessible in Handshake–will include featured events, professional development workshops and employer recruitment opportunities to be held throughout the month of September.

As director, Hall is excited to lead COSAM Student Services and is looking forward to a productive fall semester by prioritizing the student experience and highlighting student successes.

“One of the main priorities of our office will be to enhance the student-centered experience for our COSAM students,” said Hall. “We do our jobs well within our offices, but we really want to explore how we can we magnify what we offer for students through events like COSAM Welcome Week to help make them aware of resources within COSAM and at Auburn. Some of our other priorities will include identifying and working on ways to collaborate with COSAM faculty and staff, ensuring that we are reaching the needs of each COSAM department, revamping our digital presence and telling our story through platforms like social media and COSAM Today and promoting career services as our newest service in our office.”

“We are excited to prioritize capturing student successes such as highlighting student acceptance into medical school, study abroad experiences, research opportunities, student awards, graduation send offs, and career signing day,” Hall said. “We want our COSAM students to know that we’re here to support them in all aspects of student life.”

As a new semester begins, the COSAM Student Services staff encourages students to be your own advocate and be proactive in decision making. There are tutoring resources and other resources that the office can assist with, but having students take ownership and identify any needs early on will help increase the odds of academic success. They also encourage students to be open to trying new things and exploring various opportunities within COSAM and at Auburn.

For general questions, the best way to reach COSAM Students Services is via phone at 844-4269 or email at cosamss@auburn.edu.

The office has upcoming events listed below that students are encouraged to participate in:

  • August 22-26: COSAM Welcome Week
  • August 24: COSAM Professional Headshots
  • September 9: Meet the Recruiter: Protective Life
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