To better serve the needs of its students, Mercy College has announced it will expand the PACT program to include all graduate students. At its inception in 2009, the PACT program served only students who began with the College as freshmen, in 2015 it expanded to include transfer students, and all undergraduate students. This change will take effect September 1.
The PACT Program is a nationally recognized program that provides proactive advising where mentors intentionally engage students in the areas of academic advising and academic interventions, major to career exploration, financial literacy and student engagement. The PACT program has been extraordinarily effective in helping retain students, and since it began the retention rate for first-time freshmen has increased by over 15 percentage points, and first-time undergraduate transfer retention has averaged over 80%. The expansion of the PACT program will provide students with a true one-stop shop advising experience, regardless of their level of education. The population served will grow to approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students supported by more than 50 professional PACT mentors. PACT mentors will also add an additional layer of support for graduate students who participate in academic programs where there are strong faculty-student relationships.
In addition, enrollment services counselors in the Office of Enrollment Services will have an increased focus in providing students with expert advice in the complicated areas of financial aid, bursar, registrar, and financial literacy programs. This is particularly important as Mercy continues to expand its student body with students from the College of New Rochelle and the Manhattan campus.
For more information on the PACT program, please contact Rajesh Kumar, Executive Director of Student Success, at studentaffairs@mercy.edu. Please direct questions/concerns about the Division of Enrollment Services to Jeff Streker, Executive Director of Enrollment Services, at jstreker@mercy.edu.