Learning Centers and Teaching Programs

Associate Provost for Academic Success and Engagement

Susie Brubaker-Cole, Associate Provost
A500 Kerr Administration Bldg.
541-737-6164
susie.brubaker-cole@oregonstate.edu

The Office of the Associate Provost for Academic Success and Engagement works with faculty and university leaders in undergraduate education to advance the academic components of the provost’s student success and engagement agenda. The associate provost provides leadership and coordination for nine academic support units within the division of Academic Affairs, and collaborates with departments, colleges and undergraduate education committees to develop and implement challenging academic programs and support resources to serve the diverse needs of OSU undergraduates.

Academic Affairs units reporting to the associate provost include:

• Academic Success Center
• Academics for Student Athletes
• Center for Teaching and Learning
• Center for Writing and Learning
• College Assistance Migrant Program
• Difference, Power, and Discrimination
• Educational Opportunities Program
• Student Support Services
• Writing Intensive Curriculum

Academic Planning and Assessment

Susie Leslie, Director
Academic Planning and Assessment
A500 Kerr Administration Bldg.
541-737-8083
susie.leslie@oregonstate.edu

Web site: http://oregonstate.edu/ap/ 

The Office of Academic Planning and Assessment facilitates and supports the improvement of curriculum and academic programs that advance student learning and promote an enduring culture of assessment by managing curricular approval processes, meeting academic accreditation standards, and collecting, reporting, and disseminating institutional data.

Areas of concentration:

• Coordination of Curricular Review Processes
• Assessment of Student Learning
• Support of University Academic Advising
• Manage Articulation Agreements
• Student Academic Appeals
• University Accreditation
• Strategic Initiatives
• Institutional Research

Academic Success Center and ALS Courses

Moira Dempsey, Director
102 Waldo Hall
541-737-2272
moira.dempsey@oregonstate.edu
Web site: http://success.oregonstate.edu/

The Academic Success Center (ASC) supports the university's learning environment and promotes student success through graduation and beyond.

Essential functions include:

• Advising undeclared majors (University Exploratory Studies Program)
• Providing information and referral
• With the Center for Writing and Learning, coordinating supplemental instruction and tutor training
• Offering success courses:
  ALS 114 Career Decision Making (2 credits)
  ALS 116 Academic Success (2 credits)
• Offering appointments with academic coaches

Academic Learning Services (ALS) Courses

ALS is housed within the Academic Success Center. Many campus organizations and programs make up the courses within ALS and instructors come from throughout the university.

Academics for Student Athletes

Kate Halischak, Director
223 Gill Coliseum
541-737-9338
kate.halischak@oregonstate.edu
Web site: http://oregonstate.edu/studentathlete/

The mission of Academics for Student Athletes (ASA) office is to provide academic and personal support to all student athletes at Oregon State University. Full-time ASA academic counselors are in charge of the academic supervision of assigned sports, providing direction and resources in a supportive, structured environment. Our counselors work with students on transition issues, stress management, time management, academic focus and problem resolution in a proactive manner. Specific services include orientation, general academic support, registration assistance, NCAA eligibility information, supplemental instruction, tutoring, mentoring, and referrals to other support services on campus. We strive to create a collaborative environment with campus departments and divisions to help student-athletes integrate into the OSU community. ASA academic counselors are particularly aware of issues of transition, adjustment and retention for all student athletes. These services are provided to athletes by the university without charge.

Center for Teaching and Learning

Peter Saunders, Director
116 Waldo Hall
541-737-2803
peter.saunders@oregonstate.edu  

Kathleen Lloyd, Assistant
lloydka@onid.orst.edu

Evelyn Reynolds, Administrative Program Specialist
541-737-2804
ereynolds@oregonstate.edu

Web site: http://oregonstate.edu/ctl

The Center for Teaching and Learning supports professional excellence by encouraging and facilitating faculty development and scholarship in teaching and learning. The center offers workshops, confidential consultation, innovation teaching grants and a host of Web resources including a video library of best teaching practices. The center champions the development of innovative pedagogical methods, assessment and learning environments that support student retention.

The center offers faculty a summer institute focused on developing and delivering a "living course."

Faculty interested in finding video demonstrations of teaching are encouraged to visit our Web site.

Center for Writing and Learning

Lisa S. Ede, Director
125B Waldo Hall
541-737-3710
lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu 

The CWL at Oregon State University provides an opportunity for students to come together to write, converse, and learn. The Writing Center offers free help with any writing task at any stage of the writing process and is open to all OSU students, as well as to staff, faculty, and members of the Corvallis community. Writing assistants can help with all aspects of the writing process from brainstorming and organization to questions of grammar and usage. Call 737-5640 for an appointment. Students also may e-mail us for brief answers to their writing questions at writingq@lists.orst.edu or submit work-in-progress to the center’s online writing lab at http://cwl.oregonstate.edu/owl.php.

Collaborative Learning Center

Located in the Valley Library's Information Commons, the Collaborative Learning Center (CLC) offers a variety of resources for OSU students. During scheduled hours, peer tutors and graduate teaching assistants from the College of Science, the Center for Writing and Learning, and Career Services are available to help students succeed.

Free drop-in tutoring is available from the Math Learning Center, Career Services, the Mole Hole (chemistry), the Worm Hole (physics), and from Biology GTAs. Students may also make appointments with Writing Center consultants or sign up for study tables managed by the Academic Success Center. There is no charge to use any of the learning services available in the CLC. Current schedules and a list of participating departments are always available on the CLC Web site at http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/clc.

The CLC is designed to be a welcoming space for students working on group projects or studying together for tests and assignments. As part of the Information Commons, it provides easy access to all of the resources in the Valley Library as well as:

• Computer workstations configured for both individual and collaborative work
• Moveable whiteboards
• Moveable tables and chairs, providing seating for up to 100 students
• "Mini" classrooms equipped with computers and whiteboards

Computer Centers

Students at Oregon State have access to a wide variety of computer resources, from microcomputers to supercomputers, throughout the university. There are general access microcomputer facilities available to students at no charge. The microcomputer systems are networked so that they can act as workstations to access the campus mainframe and other facilities nationally and internationally. The College of Business facility contains 125 Hewlett-Packard PCs; the Milne facility contains 80 Pentium and 66 Power Macintosh systems; and the Bryan (Sackett Hall) facility houses 15 Pentium and 15 Power Macintosh systems. All facilities contain laser printers. The Milne facility is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the regular academic year.

In addition, many individual colleges, schools, and departments at OSU have their own computer facilities for use by students and faculty.

With thousands of individual computers located all over the campus, OSU students and faculty don’t have to look far for the computer resources they need.

Difference, Power, and Discrimination

Jun Xing, Director
342 Snell Hall
541-737-2760
jun.xing@oregonstate.edu
Web site: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/dpd/ 

The unequal distribution of social, economic, and political power in the United States and in other countries is sustained through a variety of individual beliefs and institutional practices. These beliefs and practices have tended to obscure the origins and operations of social discrimination such that this unequal power distribution is often viewed as the natural order. The DPD requirement engages students in the intellectual examination of the complexity of the structures, systems, and ideologies that sustain discrimination and the unequal distribution of power and resources in society. Such examination will enhance meaningful democratic participation in our diverse university community and our increasingly multicultural U.S. society.

The DPD Program works to create a more inclusive curriculum that addresses issues of race, class, gender, sexual/affectional orientation, ability, age, and religious/spiritual affiliation. The program provides faculty and staff with the training and resources needed to develop or modify comparative diversity courses. The program's mandate is to aid faculty in developing a number of classes that address issues of diversity and discrimination. The DPD Program fulfills its mandate by making course development training and resources available to OSU faculty. In addition, DPD sponsors a range of activities, including local/national guest speakers and noon brown bag seminars, that encourages participants to engage each other in stimulating and lively exchanges about issues of diversity and equity.

The DPD Program publishes a quarterly newsletter, ReVisions, that addresses issues specific to Oregon State University. Regular features include short articles by OSU faculty who have completed the DPD seminar, faculty development seminar information, current program events, and recently developed DPD courses.

Math Learning Center

Thomas P. Dick, Director
108 Kidder Hall
737-1570
tpdick@math.oregonstate.edu

The Mathematics Learning Center provides assistance in all lower-division mathematics courses. Help is available on a drop-in basis at no cost to students. Center hours in 108 Kidder Hall are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays from the second week of the term through dead week. MLC tutors are also available evenings in the Valley Library, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. Make-up tests are sometimes administered in the MLC. Study materials, reference texts, and calculators are available. A computer lab is available for use by advanced math students in connection with some math courses. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/?q=mlc.

University Exploratory Studies Program

Kerry Kincanon, Head Advisor
102 Waldo Hall
541-737-8144
uesp.advisor@oregonstate.edu
Web site: http://oregonstate.edu/uesp/

The University Exploratory Studies Program (UESP) is an academic advising program for students who choose to explore majors at Oregon State University.

Students who are undecided about a major can elect to enroll in UESP. UESP students work through a decision-making process to help them learn more about themselves and the numerous academic options that OSU offers. They are encouraged to declare and transfer to an academic department once they have found the best fit. As part of a successful academic and university experience, UESP has targeted several important learning outcomes for its students:

• Able to articulate and appreciate the purpose of higher education and what it means to be a member of a community of scholars.
• Able to identify fields of study that are consistent with their interests, abilities, and life goals.
• Participate in university opportunities outside of the classroom (clubs, residence hall activities, lectures, campus events, etc.) to facilitate their holistic development.
• Possess a better understanding of how personal values relate to educational and life goals.
• Possess knowledge of how to find information about majors and departments on campus.
• Consider how individual interests and abilities might fit with the requirements of certain OSU majors.
• Know where and how to access appropriate support services to accommodate their unique needs.

UESP believes that regular consultation with a trained academic advisor will aid students in meeting these learning outcomes and moving through the major decision making process. UESP students are required to meet with an advisor at least once a term to discuss major options and to plan coursework for the subsequent term. Many students in UESP will also utilize DISCOVER, ALS 114, and the UESP Web site to assist in their exploration. UESP and Career Services co-sponsor access for all OSU students to DISCOVER, a comprehensive career planning Web site. Students can use the site to help them clarify their interests, values, and abilities, as well as find extensive information about the world of work. UESP coordinates ALS 114, Career Decision Making, a two-credit class available each term to any first- and second-year student interested in exploring major and career options in a classroom setting. UESP also provides a departmental Web site with exploration strategies, information about major and career exploration events on campus, and links to several career information Web sites.

Writing Intensive Curriculum Program

Vicki Tolar Burton, Director
125 Waldo Hall
541-737-3711
vicki.tolarburton@oregonstate.edu
Web site: http://wic.oregonstate.edu/

The Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) Program offers support and training for faculty who teach writing intensive courses in the majors and promotes excellence in the teaching of writing at the university.

Primary functions include:

• Offering faculty development seminars on best practices for teaching writing in the disciplines.
• Consulting with faculty who are designing or revising WIC courses.
• Reviewing WIC course proposals for the Baccalaureate Core.
• Consulting with and making presentations to departments on issues of writing in the major.
• Publishing the WIC newsletter, Teaching with Writing.
• Developing and maintaining the WIC Web site, a rich resource for students and faculty. http://wic.oregonstate.edu/. In addition to writing help, the Web site includes criteria for WIC courses as well as links to a list of approved WIC courses.

The WIC program offers development grants program to faculty and departments for projects such as developing new WIC courses, conducting scholarship on writing in the disciplines, and extending WIC practices through departmental writing workshops and retreats. Annually, the program invites departments to nominate their most outstanding student writer for a WIC Culture of Writing award in the discipline. Students who want information on WIC courses in their major should consult their departmental advisor.