Our new Student Success Center director, Bernice Alston, will join us on September 1. 

Alston joins DUSON after over a decade of experience in higher education. She has eight years of experience in student success. Prior to joining DUSON, she worked at Campbell University as the director of Academic Support Services. In that position, she was responsible for the institution’s tutoring and writing centers, academic success coaching, early alerts, and student retention initiatives. Before joining Campbell University, she was a Learning Skills Specialist at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and a Retention Specialist at Morgan State University.

The Academic Support Services department at Campbell University earned a 99% overall satisfaction rate under Alston’s leadership. She redesigned academic recovery programs at two universities and helped lead efforts to implement a campus wide early alert system. Her research interests include the impact of learner interactions and satisfaction on retention and minority and adult learner persistence. 

Alston earned a Bachelor of Art degree in Mass Communication from North Carolina Central University in 2002, a Master of Art degree in Organizational Communication from Bowie State University in 2009, and a PhD in Higher Education from Morgan State University in 2014. She enjoys cycling, traveling, trying out new restaurants and spending time with family in her free time. 

Alston will assume the role previously held by Brandon Knettel, assistant professor, who worked so diligently with Sean Convoy, assistant professor, to launch the SSC during the pandemic. We thank Knettel for his leadership and wish him the best as he fulfills the responsibilities of his K award. Convoy will continue in his role with the SSC, focusing on programming and activities to promote resiliency in our students.