Academic success is an office that many students have heard of, but not all are taking advantage of the great assistance they provide.
Many college students are stressed, especially as the end of the semester draws near, and don’t want to admit that they are in need of academic help. Academic success is here to help, and with a lot of student employees, they understand what you are going through. They are available to provide a system of support throughout the different levels of academic situations that students may find themselves in.
They have the mission statement of “Academic success provides all students with a wide range of transformative services, programs and strategies to facilitate their development and critical thinking skills, empowering them to become increasingly confident and independent lifelong learners.”
They have six different areas of focus. From one-on-one tutoring to implementing testing accommodations, academic success is here to help in any way possible. The have a program called supplemental instruction, “which supports students enrolled in historically challenging courses by helping them improve their study strategies through peer-facilitated larger group study and review sessions” director Bruce Epps said.
They also have the writing center, which some courses actually require the students to use throughout the semester. They work to help students become more confident in their writing abilities and better their editing skills. One-on-one tutoring and small group peer tutoring are the more commonly used accommodations and stimulates out of class learning practices.
Another special feature of academic success is their academic coaching program. This program helps students that are dealing with learning roadblocks identify why they are struggling, teach them how to overcome it and give them that extra boost of confidence that they may be lacking. They also have an opportunity for eTutoring, which allows for those students that don’t necessarily want to have face-to-face tutoring to still get the help and assistance that they need.
Last but not least, they have the testing services. This is where academic success “[works] in conjunction with the office of disability services to assist in implementing testing accommodations for registered students,” Epps said.
Academic success is trying to make these services they provide more normal for the average college student. They aren’t necessarily for people that need help more; they are available for the students that want to go that extra mile in their studies.
“All students are here to study and learn, and we’re here to help them do that,” Epps said.
The faculty and staff in academic success want to treat their jobs like they are just continuing on the teachings from the student’s courses.
Overall this academic year, the academic success office has assisted 832 students in their learning. So far, they have had 5,675 visits, which is expected to rise even higher with finals being so close. They try to get the students who come and see them in as much as possible (averaging 7 visits per student) because they are able to help them more if they come in more often.
Academic success employs a lot of students, about 70 in fact. They serve as peer tutors, writing consultants, supplemental instruction leaders, academic coaches and receptionists. Every student working with academic success has the mission to fully help every student that comes in so that they can succeed with their learning.
