Georgia State Welcomes Philanthropic Partners to the Kickoff for New National Institute for Student Success Headquarters

ATLANTA—Georgia State University today welcomed representatives from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and the Truist Foundation, capital gift donors to the National Institute for Student Success (NISS), for a kickoff event officially launching renovations to the historic Bell Buildings at 25 and 27 Auburn Ave. that, when completed, will house the institute’s new headquarters and Georgia State’s new Student Success Center. Other philanthropic partners — on the project or on NISS programming — attending the kickoff included representatives from the Callaway Foundation.

Renovations on the Bell Buildings are underway and are scheduled to be completed in 2024. The facility will be the hub for all NISS programs, initiatives and research and will serve as a centralized location for key student success offices, including Truist Student Financial Management Center, financial aid and supplemental instruction.

The kickoff event was a celebration of the work being done by the NISS for students at Georgia State and across the nation and was held as part of the week’s special events marking the investiture of M. Brian Blake as the university’s eighth president.

“As we stand today on the cusp of opening the new home for the National Institute for Student Success and the new Student Success Center at Georgia State, we commend the dedicated leaders — Dr. Tim Renick, Dr. Allison Calhoun-Brown and their teams — who dreamed big, who believed that, with the right institutional support, students from all backgrounds could achieve similar levels of success and then turning that idea into a reality,” said M. Brian Blake, president of Georgia State University. “By harnessing equity, impact, innovation and leadership we now host university officials from across the country and around the world who are eager to learn our proven approach and soon, thanks to the work of many people and the generosity of our philanthropic partners, the NISS will have the home it so rightfully deserves, right here at Georgia State.”

Through a systematic, data-driven and collaborative process, the NISS helps colleges and universities identify and address institutional barriers to equity and college completion. Built off the systems, interventions and approaches that have eliminated the achievement gap at Georgia State and made the university a national model for student success, the NISS projects that its work will help produce almost 600,000 additional college graduates over its first 10 years.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the belief, passion and generous resources our corporate and foundation partners have committed to the NISS and to creating a destination where other institutions of higher learning will learn how to adapt Georgia State’s data-driven student success systems and processes to their organizations,” said Timothy Renick, executive director of the National Institute for Student Success. “The NISS headquarters and the new Student Success Center will cultivate innovations that will positively transform higher education and help more Georgia State students complete their degrees on time and well-equipped for successful careers.”

Learn more about the NISS mission and services at niss.gsu.edu. Explore the renovation and rehabilitation of the Bell Buildings, a project that will advance the university’s student success efforts to remove barriers to student achievement and continue Georgia State’s transformation of downtown Atlanta at giving.gsu.edu/student-success-center.

Discover ways you can help further Georgia State’s mission and uplift students at giving.gsu.edu.