The University of Northern Colorado offers much more than just academic help. It offers multiple ways for students to find their footing when entering college.
The SOAR Program is offered to many populations of students at UNC. SOAR is a way for students to have one-on-one success coaching for academic and personal assistance. There are six programs within SOAR that students can fall into.
The Independent Youth is offered to students who identify as homeless or are without family support. These students are identified through the Office of Fiancial Aid and the program offers advising in an inclusive and caring environment.
Bears First is designed to help students entering UNC who had a 3.0 or lower GPA in highschool by establishing a strong first and second year of academic success. It facilitates the development of individual success plans and formalize connections to campus resources and support.
Exploring Students identifies undeclared students as exploring. If a student doesn’t have a major in mind or is considering multiple major options, this program is designed to help explore options that are available.
The First Generation Program is designed to help establish academic success for students who are the first in their family to attend college. Participation in this program establishes a foundation of success at UNC through a structured approach to personalized coaching and advising.
The Denver Scholarship Foundation helps scholars establish academic success with facilitating the development of individual success plans and formalized connections. The scholars can renew this scholarship up to four years if requirements are met each semester. The DSF scholars are selected through an application process.
This year, SOAR introduced a new program that helps all transfer students adapt to the UNC campus.
“I just want to emphasize that it’s very important that you respond,” said Adam Alirez, the director of SOAR. “We all get tunnel vision, we all start to get focused [and] we all are experiencing this new journey out there. You know, whether you’re living on campus or you’re commuting off, it’s very easy to scroll through those emails, and skip important notifications or important reminders. My biggest advice is just respond. Look and see where your support is and do take advantage of it.”
Alirez is a long time member of the UNC family, serving as an advisor for 15 years and took the director role this past fall.
Connecting to student is one of the principles of the SOAR Program. All success coaches push for the program to be inclusive and welcoming.
“Even though we work with five specific populations, we’re open to working with students outside of those populations,” said Oliver De La Cruze, a success coach with SOAR. “They’ll receive the same support, same guidance and the same personalized success coaching. We want to be here for students.”
SOAR is located on the lower level in Michener Library. All success coaches encourage students to reach out, engage and interact with the programs offered.
