GenJacks is a program for first-generation college students, those whose parents or guardians didn't graduate from a four-year university. GenJacks is an extended learning community that provides support and resources to help first-generation students be successful and stay in college.

The GenJacks program provides mentorship, student success courses, academic support resources, career planning, and experiential learning beyond the classroom through internships and community-based projects.

Students who participate in the program have enhanced faculty and professional academic advisor support, higher GPAs, a cohesive curriculum with linked courses in the cohorts, a higher level of student engagement and social belonging, and higher satisfaction with their college experience.

Students in the GenJacks program must:

-attend the Summer Leadership Academy
-participate in the academic learning community and take SFAS 1101 (The New
Lumberjack Experience, a first-year experience course)
-complete career and professional development through SFAS 1110 and SFAS
2150
-and meet monthly with mentors.

DELIVERY FORMAT: The program is in-person only.

PROGRAM SCALE: Small-scale (reaches fewer than 10 percent of its target population)

PROGRAM OUTCOMES: Data shows that the GenJacks program increases retention and graduation rates by providing transformational experiences.

The one-year retention rate of GenJacks students is 87% compared to 72% for other first-gen students and 81% for students who are not first-generation.

The 6-year graduation rate of GenJacks students is 76% compared to 51% for first-generation students not supported by the program and 59% for students who are not first-generation.

DEPARTMENT(S) OVERSEEING PROGRAM: Student Success Center

CONTACT FOR MORE INFO: Raquel Skidmore at skidmorerr@sfasu.edu or 936-468-6232

SFA has identified student wellness and well-being as a critical basic need. To champion this, SFA established the Lumberjack Wellness Network. Founded upon the principles of the Seven Dimensions of Wellness, the Lumberjack Wellness Network was developed to educate the SFA community on student well-being. We empower faculty and staff to have meaningful and helpful conversations with students in need. We equip the community with tools, resources, and appropriate recommendations and referrals, connecting students to the help they need.

We will take the Network and the dimensions of wellness to the next level, with cutting-edge technology, ensuring our staff our current on all best practices and trends within mental health, and rethinking our current physical space to better meet our students' needs. This revision includes the upgrade of our current food pantry operations to include a refrigerator and freezer to allow us to begin offering fresh produce and frozen meats. It also includes breathing life to a currently unutilized green space to offer our campus community a space to relax, refocus, and re-center. It also focuses on the needs of our student-athletes to help them retain, progress, and graduate. This application includes collaboration from across campus, including the Dean of Students Office, Athletics, the Health and Wellness Hub, and Campus Recreation.

These initiatives will help to solidify and advance the Lumberjack Wellness Network. These initiatives will help us meet the needs of our students and help us continue to transition to a place or prevention and pre-intervention rather than reaction.

DELIVERY FORMAT: The program has a hybrid format or has both online and in-person components.

PROGRAM SCALE: Small-scale (reaches fewer than 10 percent of its target population)

DEPARTMENT(S) OVERSEEING PROGRAM: Dean of Students Office

CONTACT FOR MORE INFO: Dr. Andrew Dies at andrew.dies@sfasu.edu or 936.468.7249