How the Dean of Students Office Student Assistance Team Helps University of Arizona Students

The Student Assistance team at the University of Arizona's Dean of Students Office is the central support hub for all Wildcats. It helps students — and the family, friends, faculty, and staff who care about them — navigate University resources, understand policies and procedures, and manage crises, life traumas, and other barriers that impede student success. If you are a student facing a problem that feels bigger than a single office can solve, or you are worried about a student and don't know where to start, this team is the right first contact.

What the Student Assistance Team Does

Based on the office's own description, the team's work falls into three broad areas:

• Navigating University resources — connecting students to the right departments, programs, and services instead of leaving them to figure out the system alone.
• Understanding policies and procedures — helping students (and those supporting them) make sense of how the University works and what rules or processes apply to their situation.
• Managing crises and life traumas — assisting when something serious disrupts a student's ability to succeed, including barriers that go beyond academics.

The office frames this around a commitment to student engagement, well-being, and academic success.

Who Can Use It

The service is not limited to students themselves. According to the office, the Student Assistance team helps:

This matters because the people around a student are often the first to notice a problem. The office explicitly invites them to reach out.

Where Student Assistance Fits in the Office

The Dean of Students Office organizes its work under three main areas:

• Student Engagement, Leadership and Belonging — campus communities and connection programs.
• Student Assistance — the support team described above.
• Rights and Responsibility — student rights and responsibilities, including expectations set by the Arizona Board of Regents for maintaining an honest academic environment.

If your question is about getting help, use Student Assistance. If it is about community involvement, look at the engagement programs. If it is about conduct or your rights as a student, look at Rights and Responsibility.

How to Get Started

The office positions itself as the central hub for all Wildcats, so the practical first step is to contact the Dean of Students Office and describe your situation. The team can then point you to the appropriate resource or process.

A few things to keep in mind:

• You don't need to know which office to call. Describing the problem is enough — routing is part of what the team does.
• Third parties can reach out. Family, friends, faculty, and staff are all listed as people the team helps.
• Crises and non-crises both qualify. The team handles urgent situations as well as ongoing barriers to success.

Beyond Student Assistance: Campus Communities

The office also houses programs that connect students to campus life, including:

• The Daily Wildcat — the student-managed news outlet serving the University of Arizona and greater Tucson since 1899, publishing daily online and distributing a print newspaper on campus.
• KAMP Student Radio — run by more than 100 student volunteers and employees, hosting shows across music, talk, and sports, and providing mobile DJ services to campus organizations and local businesses.
• UATV 3 — the University's editorially independent, student-run television station, broadcasting to more than 6,500 students across 23 on-campus residence halls and streaming online.

These are separate from the Student Assistance function, but they are part of the same office and reflect its goal of fostering a caring campus culture where all students feel supported and equipped to thrive.