Developing a Student Success and Engagement Framework for WVU Libraries

Defining student success in higher education is both complex and daunting, as the term overlaps with persistence, belonging, achievement, and wellbeing. The phrase itself is often unwieldy, making it difficult for academic libraries to determine how their work fits into broader institutional efforts. To address this challenge, the Student Success and Instruction Unit at West Virginia University Libraries sought a clear framework to define Student Success to guide planning, clarify scope, strengthen collaborations, and make library contributions visible and high impact. The unit developed The Student Success and Engagement Framework (drawing on Bond & Bedenlier, 2019; Zhu et al., 2025) and mapped it to WVU’s emerging institutional model of student success. The framework identifies three interrelated dimensions of engagement—cognitive, affective, and behavioral—which at WVU align with the university’s pillars of academics, belonging, wellbeing, purpose, and experiential learning. This poster demonstrates how WVU Libraries organized and assessed initiatives within this model, including: · Cognitive: Course-integrated instruction, scaffolded information literacy, academic workshops, and open house events. · Affective: Wellness programming to foster belonging and wellbeing, bibliotherapy, reflection rooms, and sensory kits. · Behavioral: Student advisory groups, peer-led volunteer initiatives, and co-created programming that elevate student voice. By situating library work within both a recognized academic library framework and WVU’s student success priorities, the libraries clarified scope, strengthened partnerships, and developed strategies for assessing library impact on student success.