Traditional academic recovery structures, based in deficit ideology, fail to effectively support academic success and retention for university students. Academic probation policies may implicitly or explicitly communicate to students the problem lies within themselves and it is their responsibility to fix it—or face academic suspension. These approaches fail to address systemic barriers and result in inequitable outcomes. The proposed improvement initiative is a credit-bearing academic recovery course with pedagogical foundations in sense of mattering and meaningful relationships. First-year students with eligible GPA are enrolled in the course during the semester immediately following their placement on academic probation. Course curriculum includes practical activities around three topics: 1) building relationships for academic success, 2) practicing learning strategies, and 3) strengthening holistic wellbeing. Course discussions, activities, and assignments are designed to develop meaningful relationships to support increased sense of mattering. Decades of research supports a strong sense of mattering is critical for academic motivation, resilience, persistence, and success. By increasing sense of mattering, the short-term goal of the improvement initiative is to improve rates of academic recovery and retention for course participants. The long-term goal is to address systemic barriers and to advance more equitable outcomes for student academic success. The problem identification, initiative design, and improvement measures follow the framework and methodology of improvement science.