The Review had a chance to sit down with the Dean of Students, Alexis Palmer, to discuss her career at UVU and student resources that students can utilize for their success as midterms inch closer.
Palmer has served at UVU since 2004, eventually making it to her current position as the Dean of Students in 2014. Since then, she has dedicated herself to students and their welfare, overseeing the many programs that are aimed at improving students’ quality of life. Among some of these programs are Student Health Services, Student Government, and Student Media.
“[Students] are coming with a lot of extra things that are happening in their life,” Palmer stated. “I always want to keep that in the forefront of people’s minds because you can’t be successful in the classroom if there are so many things happening to you outside of the classroom.”
During The Review’s conversation with Palmer, she highlighted how depression, anxiety and stress (in no specific order) were the top three mental health issues that students were facing at UVU. She related this back to the many programs that are offered by the campus in order to try and help students be successful.
“It is not asking for the resource,” Palmer asserted after being asked about the biggest mistake students make. “We offer a very comprehensive student support services for our students.”
Across campus, there are several programs that Palmer identified as being especially important for students to know about. One of these was the Care Hub that helps with student food insecurity, resources for new parents such as lactation pods and free breast pumps, and the Wee Care center, which is a childcare center for UVU students’ children.
The “hidden gem” that Palmer identified was UVU’s Timely Care program, a free 24/7 mental health service where students can go to talk through any problems that they might be facing.
“They can access therapy; they can receive 9 sessions of therapy at no cost through Timley Care,” Palmer stated. Timley Care also provides health coaching about sleep and exercise and provides virtual care support where mediation sessions are offered.
Palmer told The Review during her interview that she hoped all these programs would make an impact on students’ lives. However, she warned that if they do not see a program creating that impact, these programs will often be reallocated to other programs that are.
“There are always going to be programs that we are evaluating,” Palmer clarified. “But if the impact isn’t able to be demonstrated, we want to reallocate those funds to resources or services that are able to demonstrate impact.”
One program she highlighted was the Student Emergency Fund, which is entirely funded through donations. Without donations, programs like the SEF would eventually be reallocated to help other programs.
On the brink of midterm exams, Palmer also wished to let students know about the different tutoring programs that are offered to students, such as the Math Lab, and the Writing Center. These are centers that can help students with their study as midterms inch closer in the calendar.
Concluding, Palmer wished to leave students a message of resilience, saying, “I think it’s about being resilient, and I think sometimes this word can have a negative connotation to it.”
“It took me a lot longer to do school, and that is okay,” Palmer reassured. “I am not competing against anyone else, and those challenges that I had, I just kept pushing through it. I also asked for help when I needed to ask for help.”
Palmer asked if any students ever needed help to please reach out to her at deanofstudents@uvu.edu. For more information about resources at UVU or programs that are available to students, visit the student resource page.
