Program Benchmarks

S.T.E.P. Up events support first-year CNHS students

S.T.E.P. Up events support first-year CNHS students’ transition from high school to the university and serves as an important stepping stone toward their new identity as a future healthcare professional and leader.

S.T.E.P. Up is an engagement program unique to the College of Nursing & Health Sciences intended to support all first-year students’ goals of academic excellence, belonging, and flourishing. S.T.E.P. Up events occur over two days. The first day focuses on belonging and the second builds on this to focus on academic excellence and flourishing. Throughout both days, students are invited to improve their understanding that academic excellence is their goal, not just the College’s expectation; to increase their awareness of the need to support their own mental health and well-being; clarify where and how to reach out for academic supports; and to create positive interactions with classmates, upper-level CNHS students, faculty and staff. We aim to develop a cheerful spirit of welcome that will deepen students’ overall sense of belonging.

S.T.E.P. Up student learning outcomes (SLO)

All activities and workshops delivered during the S.T.E.P. Up program aim to achieve one or more of the following Student Learning Outcomes (SLO):

• SLO 1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between personal responsibility and academic excellence
• SLO 2: Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and professionally through verbal and written methods
• SLO 3: Students will demonstrate time management skills in balancing school, work and personal life commitments
• SLO 4: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the College’s values of diversity and inclusion and their role in academic excellence, community, and collaboration
• SLO 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to balance inquiry and advocacy for self and others
• SLO 6: Students will demonstrate a willingness to reach out to their professors and professional support staff--both in CNHS and across UMassD campus--before they are in academic and/or personal distress
• SLO 7: Students will demonstrate clinical readiness by completing pre-clinical education requirements
• SLO 8: Students will develop an understanding of the program plan for their major and graduation requirements