30th Anniversary History Book

ACADEMIC SUPPORT MODEL

1 st YEAR • Identify Strengths Weaknesses • Identify Learning Style • Develop Accommodation Profile • Develop Mutual Trust/Honesty • Examine Life Coaching/Life Skills • Establish Parental Communications

4 th YEAR • 30 Minutes Maximum Academic Support • Become a Student Tutor/TA • Continue to Build Self- Advocacy • Little/No Parental Communication

CENTER FOR STUDENT SUCCESS LEARNING SPECIALISTS PEER TUTORS

3 rd YEAR • Assess for Diminishing Academic Support – OPT to 30 Minutes • Further Develop Critical Thinking Skills • Practice Self-Advocacy Skills • Practice Job-Related Skills (Interviewing, Role Playing) • Diminishing Parental Communication

2 nd YEAR • Declare/Finalize Major • Use Various Support Systems • Encourage Use of Faculty Office Hours • Use Assistive Technology • Perform Career Assessment • Adjust Parental Communication

The bottom line: Nobody knows the students like their learning specialists. Because of their specialist’s oversight role, Brode said, “students realize very quickly that you can’t just disappear into the woodwork here. You’re going to be missed, and it’s going to be documented, and someone’s going to call you on it.” Some students find that oversight annoying, Brode said, “but there’s a certain level of security that people are going to notice if you’re not performing or doing what you need to do.”

To make sure that the learning specialists and the college’s other departments would all be on the same page, Brode and her team developed Beacon’s 4-Year Academic Support Model. It spells out goals for learning specialists to accomplish with their students as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Implemented in 2014, the model has undergone some changes, including a new approach to the student-learning specialist relationship.

PAGE 42