About OIESA
Advancing Belonging, Purpose, and Student Success
The Office for Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs (OIESA) is an integrated division that brings together the work of Student Affairs and Inclusive Excellence to better support the evolving needs of our students and campus community.
This reflects a shared commitment to creating a more connected, coordinated, and student-centered approach to care, belonging, and success. It also reaffirms that Inclusive Excellence remains a core principle of our institutional identity—not as a standalone effort, but as a guiding framework that shapes how we teach, serve, lead, and engage across the university. Efforts, including Climate Assessment and Response, the Equity & Belonging Alliance, Culture Strategy Initiatives, Mission Moment Initiatives, Onboarding Support, and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center, will remain under the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs.
While OIESA provides important leadership in this space, the responsibility for advancing equity, belonging, and student success extends beyond any one office. It is a shared, university-wide commitment that informs both student-facing experiences and the broader culture in which we learn and work.
At its core, OIESA is grounded in a simple yet important idea: student success is not only academic—it is shaped by a student’s sense of belonging, well-being, identity, and ability to access support when and where needed. By aligning these areas more closely, we are better positioned to respond to the complexity of students’ lived experiences.
Through this structure, OIESA will:
- Strengthen coordination across student support services
- Enhance our ability to respond to students’ intersecting needs
- Foster a campus culture rooted in belonging, equity, and care
- Provide clearer pathways for students, faculty, and staff to engage in support
A Five-Pronged Approach to Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs
The Office for Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs advances Antioch University’s mission by cultivating a learning environment where equity, belonging, and holistic student success are lived practices. Collectively, the office will partner across the university to remove barriers, strengthen connections, and ensure that every community member, specifically students, is affirmed and empowered to thrive academically, personally, and professionally. Recognizing that student success emerges from a holistic foundation of care, academic engagement, and community connection, the Office operates through a five-pronged approach: Academic Support, Writing Support, Community Care & Compliance, Connection & Belonging, and Student Engagement.
Academic Support ensures that students have the tools, guidance, and resources necessary to achieve academic excellence. Through Advising, Career Services, Mentoring, and Veteran and Connected, this pillar integrates developmental and academic support with Antioch’s learner-centered philosophy. Research demonstrates that consistent, structured advising contributes directly to graduate student satisfaction, degree progress, and well-being (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences [GSAS], 2022; Kubat & Akay, 2023). Effective advising relationships also help mitigate stress and uncertainty while reinforcing a sense of belonging and academic confidence (ICE PhD, 2023; Miller et al., 2023).
Similarly, writing centers play a critical role in student success. Graduate-focused writing programs—such as writing groups, accountability partnerships, and consultant collaborations—have been shown to improve writing self-efficacy and reduce isolation (Mullen & Wren, 2024; University of California, Davis, 2023; University of Central Florida, n.d.). Frequent engagement with writing support services correlates with stronger academic performance and increased persistence through completion (Lundin et al., 2023; Overbay & Thurley, 2024).
Students are equipped not only to meet the rigors of their coursework but also to translate their learning into meaningful professional and civic engagement. This approach strengthens persistence, empowers intellectual growth, and bridges academic experiences with future aspirations.
Community Care and Compliance are shared commitments that strengthen the integrity of our learning environment. Actively supporting one another’s dignity, safety, and belonging through responsive, restorative, and proactive actions is critical to amplifying a culture in which people feel both supported and responsible for one another. This prong encompasses Disability (Accessibility Services), Bias Prevention & Education, Early Alert/Emergency Support, Student Conduct, and Title IX.
Connection and Belonging focuses on the continuum of internal-facing practices to shape climate, trust, culture, and belonging within the university community, thereby helping students and employees feel anchored in the university's mission—from initial orientation to retention and wellbeing. This prong includes New Student Orientation, Retention, and Wellbeing. By fostering a strong sense of belonging and connection, the Office supports students in navigating transitions, accessing resources, and sustaining momentum toward graduation and lifelong success.
The final prong of the Office for Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs is Student Engagement. As an institution founded on social justice, this prong leads efforts that strengthen equity across locations and modalities. It honors university-wide belonging, affinity spaces, and identity-based support and community-building events and dialogues. This prong comprises: International Students, Student Groups, and Student Government.
Overall Impact
This is not simply a structural change—it is a cultural commitment. The principles of Inclusive Excellence guide not only how we support students, but how we operate as an institution—informing our practices in teaching and learning, policy development, campus life, and community engagement.
As we move forward, we recognize that this is an evolving process. We are committed to transparency, ongoing dialogue, and collaboration as we continue to refine how this model best serves our students and community.
We invite you to learn more about OIESA, explore how this work connects to your role, and consider the many ways we can partner together to cultivate a campus where all students can thrive.
Stephanie Helms Pickett, EdD
Vice President for Inclusive Excellence & Student Affairs
Dr. Stephanie Helms Pickett joined Antioch University in January 2024 and serves as the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence and Student Affairs. Stephanie has extensive experience in higher education administration, working at private, public, single-sex, predominantly White, and historically Black institutions of higher education, in residence life, commuter life, multicultural affairs, orientation, leadership, international student affairs, disability services, and academic support services. She previously served as the Associate Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Strategic Practice at North Carolina State University and as the Director of Assessment and Professional Development, as well as the Director of the Women’s Center at Duke University. Dr. Helms Pickett has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership and Higher Education Policy in the College of Education at NC State University and as an Adjunct Professor in the Duke University Divinity School. Her research interests are in the areas of higher education policy, women’s engagement, cultural competency, faith, and leadership. She is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and uses it in her practice to assist others in developing an intercultural mindset. She recently served as chair of the BRIDGES Advisory Board, a leadership program historically advancing women in higher education. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio & Television Broadcasting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a Master’s and Doctorate degree in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University. She’s written six books and writes a weekly blog integrating faith into daily life.