This year, the Advising and Learning Assistance Center will offer three new programs designed to better meet the needs of students. These programs are drop-in tutoring, the teaching and learning assistants program, and the early warning system.
Last year’s system of requesting a tutor is being replaced by a system called drop-in tutoring. Instead of the ALAC assigning a tutor, students can go to drop-in tutoring sessions to get help from graduate TAs as well as undergraduate tutors. The ALAC is working to ensure almost every class will be covered by these tutors, from 1000-level courses to 4000-level courses. Drop-in tutoring will be offered Sunday 3–5 pm and Monday–Thursday 7–9pm every week in DCC 324. Tutoring sessions will start the second week of classes. Signs will be posted in the DCC to help students find the Center.
In addition, eight new teaching and learning assistants (TLAs) will be living in the residence halls. TLAs are graduate students who split their time evenly between working for their department as TAs and working as tutors in the residence halls and the drop-in tutoring center. Since the TLAs are all graduate students, they will be able to help students needing tutoring in any level of course. TLAs will also keep office hours so that students can walk in when they need help.
Piloted last year, the early warning system (EWS) has been fully integrated into SIS for student and faculty use this year. The EWS works to notify students of problems in classes before they lead to poor grades. The professor will submit a concern to SIS, which in turn sends that concern to the student, their advisor, the ALAC, and the Office of the First Year Experience. The advisor and FYE will follow up with the student and refer the student to appropriate services, such as RA or LA intervention or tutoring, as needed. Feedback then passes back to the ALAC. Typical concerns that may be reported over the EWS include: irregular attendance, missed assignments, poor performance on tests/quizzes, or poor math or writing skills. Professors may also write a tailored message specific to other situations.
In its pilot year, the EWS received 413 reports and had a higher rate of student responses than through previous systems. Jeannie Steigler, the interim director of the ALAC for the past two years, hopes that having the EWS on SIS will improve on those numbers because of its ease of use. While the EWS targets first year students, it will be available for all courses and classes.
More information on each of these programs is available from the Advising and Learning Assistance Center in Sage 2106 or through their website at
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/advising/.
