Student Success
The NatSci Student Success Team in the Undergraduate Academic and Student Affairs Office is dedicated to supporting students in achieving success within our college. Meet our team and visit our collection of student success resources:
Meet the Student Success Advising Team
Danielle Flores Lopez (she/her/hers) serves as the Interim Assistant Dean of DEI and the Director of Academic Advising and Student Success Initiatives in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University. Throughout her 16 years at MSU, she has worked as a higher education advocate, DEI specialist, mentor, and life coach. She is a facilitator for Cultural Competency and Organizational Change DEI workshops. Additionally, she is a co-founder of Mujer a Mujer, a women empowerment group.
Dr. Flores Lopez is a first-generation college student who earned her Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) from the College of Education at Michigan State University. She is a certified Academic Life Coach through Coach Training EDU. Danielle enjoys spending time with her family, trying new food, traveling, and nature.
Kanchan (she/her/hers) is the Assistant Director of Student Success in NatSci. She has served in several different roles at MSU since 2003 – as a graduate student, a researcher and an academic advisor. Kanchan is passionate about all things related to STEM! She enjoys helping students navigate the complexities of higher education, guiding them as they pursue their academic journey, being a part of their support system during the highs and lows and celebrating their success at graduation. Kanchan loves traveling to the Great Lakes in Michigan, spending time with family and friends, reading and going on long walks.
Jenny (she/her/hers) is the Student Success Advisor in NatSci. After graduating from Michigan State University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences (interdepartmental w/ the College of Education), she began teaching high school science. She taught Biology, Chemistry, and AP Biology over the past five years. She received a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University in 2022. She joined the MSU NatSci Student Success team in 2023 to grow in her passion for cultivating student success through university advising. Jenny is skilled at empowering students to grow and achieve their academic goals by helping them use research-based success strategies. She finds great purpose in developing solutions for student academic needs and building genuine relationships that foster student belonging on campus. She welcomes all NatSci students to schedule a visit with her for advising on any area of academic improvement, including effective study strategies, test-taking/anxiety help, time management and work/life balance, goal-setting, etc. She enjoys visits to the lake with her family, cheering on MSU athletics, and bubble tea!
Academic Success
Academic Success is information about your scholastic endeavors, such as studying, note-taking, and test-taking. Student Success Advising is available to further assist you.
Student Success Advising
Hoping to improve your academic skills and be more successful in your courses?
NatSci Student Success Advising provides one-on-one coaching for areas such as:
- Effective study strategies
- Stronger test-taking habits and navigating test-anxiety
- Better time management and work-life balance
- Purposeful goal-setting
- Ways to seek help in your major requirement courses
To schedule an appointment for NatSci Student Success Advising on SIS:
Advising/Tutoring Appointment System
- Go to student.msu.edu and login with your NETID and password
- Select the Academic Progress tile
- Click the tab on the left, labeled Advising/Tutoring Appointments
- To schedule a new appointment, click Create New Appointment
- You will now fill out the New Appointment section details:
- Category: choose Advising
- Advising/Tutoring Unit: Select College of Natural Science
- Appointment Reason: 0254 Student Success Advising
- Additional Information: Enter more details to assist the advisor with preparing for the appointment
- Appointment Type: Choose an available option for how the appointment will be held (Zoom, phone, etc.)
- Once all of the information has been entered, click Select Advisor: Jennifer Freitas
- View the Advisor name and Location
- Click the Time Selected drop-down menu to view available times, then click Select Time to confirm the appointment
- You will be returned to the New Appointment screen where you can review any notes from the advisor/tutor and confirm the appointment.
- Click Book It!
Transitioning to MSU
Transitioning to MSU covers a range of topics dealing with acclimating to this huge campus and understanding how the university operates.