Defining Student Success
Senior Director of Academic Engagement and Student Success Dr. Evelyn Aucutt is honored to have been named the 2025 Champion of Diversity Award recipient. This honor recognizes a faculty, staff member, or administrator who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in intercultural engagement, restorative justice, or racial reconciliation on campus.
Aucutt embodies what it means to champion diversity, but her impact goes even further. She is deeply committed to supporting all North Park students, ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging, thrives academically, and makes the most of their university experience.
We caught up with Aucutt to learn more about the work she鈥檚 leading.
What drew you to North Park? 聽
I鈥檝e been at North Park for 12 years. I鈥檓 also a product of Christian higher education, and I believe in its mission and its role within the landscape of higher education. Yet, I attended an institution that was less inclusive of all faith backgrounds and experiences, so being an open-religion campus made applying to North Park and being a part of its mission very compelling.
Tell us a little about the role of academic engagement at North Park and the programs supporting student retention and success.
Regarding student success, we鈥檝e started seeing it as not necessarily an endpoint. We believe it is about how our students flourish and grow while at North Park. We believe our students are created in the image of God, and we are committed to helping them discover and develop their gifts and talents as they prepare for their vocation and service in the world.
We鈥檙e also having ongoing conversations about student success, aligning with our flourishing student pillar. Flourishing is less of a destination and more of a way of life; we should strive to continue flourishing as individuals, society, and communities.
We want to help cultivate in our students the character traits of valuing curiosity, loving your neighbor and community, engaging in dialogue and discourse, and being with people who maybe don鈥檛 look like you or agree with you.
What programs or changes have come from the First-Year Experience at North Park?
First, there鈥檚 the Peer Student Success Coaching Program, a peer-to-peer model. All first-year students receive a peer student success coach based on their major. All first-year students embark on a new experience. Whether a student is first-generation or from a multi-generational college background, having an upperclass peer mentor provide guidance and support during the transition to college is invaluable.
The second is the Persistence Through Advising and Student Outreach (PASO) program. PASO is a tribute to our Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) identity and means “step鈥� or 鈥減ace.鈥� That鈥檚 a beautiful depiction of how we want to support and care for our students. It is about walking alongside students and providing intentional support.
Implementing a first-year advising model allows a team of individuals to receive professional development regarding advising. The literature on academic advising highlights how strength-based approaches positively influence student success, persistence, and retention in college. The FY PASO Advising program has allowed us to elevate advising for first-year students and address some of those challenges.
A third initiative of the First-Year Experience will launch this fall: the first-year seminar course, which faculty and staff will facilitate, and Peer Student Success Coaches (PSSC) will assist. We will facilitate a summer institute for instructors teaching the First-Year Seminar course. Whenever we implement a new initiative, we prioritize professional development to ensure that those leading the effort feel supported and invested in as well.
You recently received the Champion of Diversity Award. What does it mean to you to receive that recognition?
I was surprised because I don鈥檛 consider this work an obligation. No one is telling me that students of color matter or that we should be intentional about how we support them. It鈥檚 just part of my DNA. It鈥檚 the way I think. It鈥檚 the way I move through the world. I want to care for, nurture, and support all students, but I also believe that when we intentionally support students of color as an HSI and a Minority Serving Institution, all our students will benefit.
I don鈥檛 do this work to be recognized. I truly do this work because of all the gaps and the challenges that I experienced, the way that I was marginalized and experienced microaggressions and otherness during my college experience. It鈥檚 a way for me to pay it forward and contribute to making higher education a place where all students belong, flourish, thrive, and persist.
I鈥檓 not the only person doing this work. Most of my team members identify as people of color and are very committed to this work. It鈥檚 an honor to be recognized as a Champion of Diversity, but it鈥檚 also a way to elevate the importance of the work we鈥檙e all doing.
What鈥檚 one message you鈥檇 like to share with North Park families and students?
To parents, I would say we find it a privilege to continue to pour into and nurture and walk life with your child while they鈥檙e in college. We鈥檙e going to do our very best to cultivate an inclusive community and provide support and resources where students can thrive.
To students, we also count it a privilege that you chose to trust us as you begin this new endeavor. College is not just about pursuing a degree, but about developing as a person. Contemplating questions such as, who am I? Who do I want to become? How do I want to use my gifts, passions, and strengths to make a difference in the world?
We encourage you to embrace the process of exploration and the opportunity to learn more about yourself and others, to be curious, to be courageous, to find your voice, to not be afraid to fail, and to be open to this adventure. Know that you are not alone, and we will support you along the way.