Welcome Center is One-stop Spot for Answers
With smiling faces and a welcoming attitude, the Nashville State Welcome Center is here to serve.
Welcome Centers are at every Nashville State campus, where staff are ready and willing to help students navigate their collegiate journey.
On the White Bridge campus, the Welcome Center is on the second floor of the Student Services Building, commonly called the S-building. Designed to make it clear to all who stop by, it is a place of help and guidance.
Visitors will find help and warm environment filled with comfortable chairs and an open area with computers and printers for all to use. For anyone with children, there is an activity table.
Staff provide services ranging from help with financial aid, admissionsnd document processing, enrollment guidance, new student orientations, and campus tours to career services and professional development.
“We want anybody who is sort of lost or doesn’t know where to go to come here,” Dr.
Nicole Hubbs, director of the Welcome Center and Career Services, said.
“The goal of creating this space was to keep students from having to bounce around to different offices.”
Opened in 2021, the Welcome Center and Career Services focus is being the one-stop shop for students to get their questions answered.
There is also staff to help students who were or are currently serving in the military and help for high school students get college credit through Dual Enrollment and Dual Credit.
One message remains constant at the Welcome Center, “If you don’t know where to send someone, send them here. If you don’t know how to answer their question send them here... we will help them,” Hubbs said.
Another focus of the Welcome Center is helping students ask the right questions.
“A lot of time, students may be unsure of how to ask,” Valerie Olivas, a student services specialist at the White Bridge campus Welcome Center, said.
A big part of what we do is “ask follow-up questions to help us navigate what they may really need.”
While the start of the new semester is often their busiest time of year, the Center serves students year-round.
They offer walk-in services, where visitors can check-in for an appointment and receive a text notification when a staff member is available. Or, if they require more time, students can make appointments with Welcome Center staff on all campuses for assistance.
“When it seems like a student may need extra assistance or they may want some more time, we provide other options,” Olivas said.
One of those options is a Virtual Welcome Center, where students can join a Zoom meeting with staff.
Above all, the Welcome Center focuses on serving Nashville State’s student body – past, present, and future. No matter how big or small, the Welcome Center is the place to get questions answered.
