Building bridges to success

BY THOMAS ENGELBERT / Multimedia Journalist

Dr. Manon Shockey, an alumna of Tarleton University with a rich history spanning 15 years at the institution, serves as the Director of Student Development of Mentoring, showing a strong dedication to student success and support.

Shockey graduated with her undergraduate degree in Dec. 1999 before obtaining her master's and doctorate degree from Tarleton in 2002-2004 and 2018 respectively. She has witnessed significant shifts in student dynamics.

A big chunk of her time is dedicated to Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) due to the amount of students. Dr. Shockey is one of only two faculty members who take care of placement, holds, new student registration, orientation and things of that sort.  

Since 2020, there has been a huge impact on education, they have seen the numbers get a lot bigger,  from 400-600 students before COVID to thousands after Dr. Shockey said. As of this year, the numbers seem to have stabilized,

“Part of it is because another program has gotten bigger in the state which is called Texan College Bridge,” Shockey said.

Student support is their main goal. They meet the students where they are currently, whether that be mentally, physically or emotionally and help them be successful. This can be academic support, connecting them to the correct resources or giving them all the support they can get when a student is in crisis. 

According to Dr. Shockey, The University College as a whole is typically front lines. They are in direct contact with students, 

“We serve the students where they are. So wherever they come in, that’s where we serve them,” Dr. Shockey said.

What Dr. Shockey loves the most about her job is having the opportunity to help students in the way she was once helped. Dr. Shockey has been able to meet people at Tarleton that she would have never been able to interact with in her horticulture degree.  She can't help but just think that she is exactly where she is always supposed to be. 

“I think God knew I wouldn't voluntarily leave teaching horticulture, he was like nope you needed somewhere else, so he changed my path and here I am,” Shockey said. 

There are many times that Dr. Shockey and her team meet students at their worst, in a crisis, and absolutely overwhelmed. Despite all the paperwork and monotonous tasks that come with her job,

“Being able to support them at that moment and help them move forward to the next step, that is the best part of the job,” Shockey said. 

Tarleton is full of resources available to students in need. For incoming freshmen, orientation will have all that information; despite that most of the info will be forgotten during the whirlwind of Transition Week.