The School of Nursing offers a holistic approach to helping students succeed, with academic assistance, psychosocial support and professional and student leadership development opportunities — all through the school’s Student Success Center.
This centralized hub gives students easy access to a wealth of resources — from peer mentoring, tutoring and academic workshops, to student wellness, nursing scholarships, student organizations, career readiness and more.
Since the center opened in 2014, the school has experienced an increase in student retention, student engagement and pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX, which reached 98% the year after the center was opened, said Vanessa Bográn Meling, EdD, MBA, associate dean of Admissions, Student Success and Engagement, and assistant research professor in the School of Nursing.
“We’re educating not just students’ minds, but the whole person, ensuring they have the support, confidence and skills to thrive,” Meling said.
Setting up BSN students for success before their first class
From the outset, students starting their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) journey have a support network through the school’s Peer Mentoring Program.
All incoming students are assigned a peer mentor to help support their navigational questions as well as their social and mental health needs.
“We assign a peer mentor to each clinical group and that group could range between 10 to 15 new, incoming students,” Meling said, adding that peer mentors are in their second semester of nursing school, ready to answer questions with the first semester fresh on their minds.
When the students arrive at orientation, they’re greeted by their peer mentor, who sits with them through the full-day orientation to help with questions as they begin the program, Meling said.
“They serve as tour guides, motivating students and helping them navigate campus resources and offices designed to support their success,” Meling said.
BSN student Alexis Dolotina served as one of two peer mentors assigned to a group of 14 students in the spring of 2025 and later assumed a leadership role for peer mentors in the fall of 2025. Dolotina began reaching out to her mentees over the 2024 winter break, fielding questions about uniforms, first-day expectations, the type of shoes needed for uniforms and more, she said.
“No question was a dumb question,” Dolotina said, adding that having a mentor to ask questions was very helpful to her mentees. “Having somebody that was just in your shoes and isn’t a teacher or isn’t staff [made it] easier to ask for help versus going to a teacher and being like ‘hey, I need help with this.’”
BSN student Giuliana Ornelas also served as one of two peer mentors assigned to a group of 14 students in the spring of 2025. She wanted to give back to the program that helped her as a new student because she understood how stressful it can be as a first-semester student. And with cohorts as large as 150 students, having a mentoring program in place helps position students for success, said Ornelas.
“I think social support plays a big role in being successful in [the nursing] program, whether that’s study groups or friends, [because] sometimes people don’t have those relationships with others,” Ornelas said. “I think a lot of my peers can agree that their peer mentors have played a big role in getting students out of their shell and [realizing] that asking for help is okay.”
Many of the students who reached out to Ornelas sought emotional support, she said.
“Students were very overwhelmed at the beginning and stressed with all these assignments and book purchases, even uniforms or clinical sites. So, it was easy for them to reach out to us through our phone number rather than emailing someone.”
Having a peer mentor who encourages students to ask questions, make connections and stay engaged has been very beneficial to creating long-term friendships and networks beyond nursing school, Ornelas said.
“I’m friends with [peer mentors] who’ve graduated already and are now serving as nurses all over the state,” Ornelas said.
How the mentoring program was born
When Meling joined the School of Nursing a little over a decade ago, she began conducting listening tours with students to find out about any challenges they might have. The listening sessions were integral to the creation of the mentoring program.
“[Students] perceived a lack of connection with nursing students who were one to two semesters ahead of them,” Meling said. When the mentoring program began in 2015, second-semester students became mentors on a volunteer basis. Within a year, the program showed success and the school received a Department of Education grant that enabled the school to provide peer mentors a stipend.
And the program has paid off.
“We’ve observed meaningful community-building because peer leadership carries credibility. Students are more inclined to listen, engage and emulate success when they are observing successful peers leading these initiatives,” Meling said. “Students’ emotional and mental health are being intentionally supported, along with improved access to and connection with resources.”
Student organizations provide leadership development
Nursing students are also set up for success with opportunities to join a variety of student organizations. Representatives from each of these organizations make up the school’s Nursing Student Council, which provides an open channel of communication between students, faculty, the dean and staff members.
BSN student Noah Hernandez, president of the Nursing Student Council, said that the nursing program’s culture helps students feel connected.
“I think being at the School of Nursing feels like being part of a family, where you feel at home, like you have a second home at school, Hernandez said.
Leadership events provide students with support, skills
Each August, as a kickoff to the new school year, the School of Nursing hosts an annual leadership retreat at an off-site location for all peer mentors, tutors, peer-assisted learning session leaders, student organization leaders and committee members.
The focus of the most recent retreat, held at Morgan’s Wonderland — a fully accessible theme park for kids and families — was on mental health and well-being. Event presentations ranged from stress management and team building to emotional intelligence and time management.
“There were different workshops led by students and faculty,” Hernandez said. “Through those workshops, we gained a better sense of why student organizations are important, the role we have within the student body and how to become better students overall.”
Tutoring positions offer beneficial training
Students who become study-session leaders for peer-assisted learning sessions or tutors have an opportunity for paid training on how to lead a class, classroom management and one-on-one tutoring.
“These experiences provide meaningful learning opportunities that foster the development of leadership skills,” Meling said, adding that students undergo intensive training to become a tutor or peer-assisted study-session leader. These leaders also take part in the annual leadership retreat.
Ornelas, who was a peer-assisted learning session (PALS) instructor and leader and is currently a tutor during the spring 2026 semester, said students really benefit from having learning sessions that reinforce what they learned in the classroom.
“PAL sessions are weekly, one-hour sessions that students attend,” Ornelas said. “You don’t have to sign up. You really just show up when we’re hosting them. We break down the content to smaller bits and pieces that are easier to understand.”
Ornelas added, “I think that students are more inclined to ask questions during these sessions because instead of asking the question in front of 150 students and the professor, it’s just 20 to 50 students.”
Resource fairs provide networking opportunities
The School of Nursing also holds resource fairs twice annually, before each semester, to provide students opportunities to learn about the different organizations within the school and throughout the university.
Students can also connect with other students, learn about offerings across campus as well as meet with different community and campus partners, Meling said.
It’s all about student success
Thanks to the school’s Student Success Center, nursing students have been able to find a sense of community, receive educational support, gain leadership and career development opportunities and much more.
“I love how involved they are in all aspects of campus,” Ornelas said. “I think [the center is] a big part of the positive culture we have here in the nursing program.”
Click here to read about other student support initiatives of the university’s health professional schools in Mission magazine.