Office of Student Success

Office of Student Success

What does it mean to be successful? At Holy Cross College, your success is only partly achieved through your best academic performance. Success is also attained through learning from the experiences of various relationships, which shape and define your growth. Along with this, you want to be successful in discerning your core values and growing in your faith life.

To help you be successful at HCC, the Office of Student Success supports you as a 1st-year student by improving your academic skills along with academic advising, personal mentoring, and career development. All of this is primarily done via one-on-one meetings, and you will also have opportunities to participate in helpful workshops and group discussions with your peers.

Academic Advising and Personal Mentoring

College life will provide many new opportunities for you; some of which may be quite challenging. You will be experiencing new relationships and changed relationships with your family and your old friends. You may experience changes in your faith development. Your personal mentor, who is also your academic advisor, will make sure that you meet with them throughout your 1^st year to talk about all these personal areas and more. Because of having a personal mentor that knows you, you can reach out to them at any time to discuss anything. Beyond your first year, we hope that you continue to reach out to them.

Before you even arrive at Holy Cross, you will get to meet your Academic Advisor during the summer SOAR – Saints Orientation Advising & Registration. You will discuss with them your hopes for success and get assistance with choosing classes and answers to all your academic questions. When you declare your major by the end of your first year, your academic advisor will change to a faculty member. But as your personal mentor, they will continue to journey with you.

Academic Skills

The transition to college requires deeper development of study skills and time management. In addition to the team member that helps you with academic advising and mentoring, another team member will help you evaluate your abilities in study skills and time management and provide assistance for you to be more successful. This team member will be another person that you can reach out to at any time.

Career Development

What are your skills and passions that will shape and define your future career? Along with your academic advisor for your major, we’ll help you to discover your career path beyond Holy Cross College. We will assist you with internship opportunities within a specific field and you will have opportunities to be engaged in the community.

Gateway and Navy ROTC Prep Programs

The Office of Student Success assists students who have been admitted in the Gateway and Navy ROTC Prep programs. A team member will be with you throughout your time at Holy Cross College to ensure that you are enrolled in the courses you want and need at Notre Dame and Holy Cross. Also, they will personally mentor and support you as you make the transition to college life and then to Notre Dame.

Gateway Program
During your year at Holy Cross, you will have a coordinated curriculum of classes at both Holy Cross and Notre Dame that align with your intended major and interest. Each semester, you will work with a designated team member to select 4 courses at Holy Cross and one course at Notre Dame. In addition, you will take two semesters of the one-credit Moreau First Year Experience course to fulfill Notre Dame’s first-year requirement.

Navy ROTC Prep Program (NPP)

During your time at Holy Cross College, you will follow a prescribed curriculum as indicated by the Navy ROTC offices at Notre Dame. A team member from the Office of Student Success will work with you to ensure that you are meeting the requirements for admission to Notre Dame. You will take courses in Chemistry and Calculus, as well as Physics or Biology, along with courses in US History and English.