Eric Cuevas is the Senior Director of Student Success Programs at Georgia State. He is currently in his 13th year at Georgia State. The first five years of Cuevas’s career in higher education were with the former Georgia Perimeter College, which is now part of Georgia State.
He started as an academic admissions recruiter and worked with thousands of young minds, all hungry to enrich their lives through education. Then, a few years before the Georgia State and Perimeter College consolidation, Cuevas had an opportunity to impact Georgia State through their Student Success Programs significantly.
“I was so excited to be a small part of the historic growth and innovation within the Georgia State University student success team,” Cuevas said. “I have worked with so many amazing faculty, staff and students in the heart of Atlanta and once again found a way to be involved.”
Cuevas was excited to get the best of both worlds by working with old colleagues from Perimeter, as well as making new connections at the Atlanta campus. As these institutions joined together, Cuevas became the founding Director of Student Success and then the founding Senior Director for Student Success Programs. In his line of work, Cuevas serves all undergraduate students at the university and helps to make sure they succeed academically and graduate.
He and his colleagues’ work includes designing and administering dozens of specialized programs ranging from student success scholarships to pre-college enrollment programs for learners in middle school, adults re-entering college, military veterans and everyone in between. They also design first-year students’ programs and deliver academic support through tutoring, academic coaches, and supplemental instructors.
“Our work is so vast and expansive because the students of Georgia State University come from so many different walks of life,” Cuevas said. “No two students at this institution are the same and we do our best to build programs to support everyone.”
Perimeter College offers a unique college experience. It offers purposefully small class sizes with faculty who are experts in their fields.
“Our staff are some of the most passionate people in the business and work as mentors and guides on this journey of education and growth,” Cuevas said.
While some may see the Perimeter campus as less of a college experience, it provides extra support.
“At Perimeter, we understand the diverse lives and backgrounds of our students and do everything we can to provide an affordable, world-class education to anyone willing to put in the work,” he said.
As for the future of the Perimeter campus, Cuevas and other faculty are continuing to find ways to expand programming and opportunities. Some of the immediate projects they are working on include two brand new programs funded by the federal government to support first-generation learners at the Newton and Alpharetta campuses called TRIO Student Support Services.
Georgia State continues to invest in academic support at Perimeter College and will have tutoring and supplemental instruction services available in person and online seven days a week in the fall.
Additionally, students at the Decatur Campus can come to the newly renovated Georgia State University LIFT offices. Cuevas encourages students to meet some of their scholars, get expert academic coaching, career advice from on-site professionals, or just hang out in the lounge and meet new friends on campus.
He hopes that all students try as much as they can during their college careers. Cuevas says a world of opportunity at the Perimeter College and Cuevas challenges the students of every campus to get engaged and involved.
“Make meaningful connections with faculty, build a team of peers who want to succeed, check out our recreation centers and swimming pools, join or start a student organization and visit every office at least once to see what Perimeter can offer you,” Cuevas said.
