Please note: This is NOT the most current catalog.
Academic Support
The Academic Support Center
The Academic
Support Center (ASC) works with students, faculty and staff
to assist students who strive to become stronger independent
and collaborative learners. The ASC has professional staff and
student staff to assist those who want to improve their academic
performance, either in general or in a particular course. Programs
run by the ASC include:
- The Study Skills Center (SSC) offers individual help with managing
time, taking notes, studying for tests, reading effectively,
studying foreign languages and solving problems. The SSC is staffed
by Academic Assistants, subject area tutors with special training.
- The Writing Place provides assistance during any stage of
the writing process. Peer tutors can help with essays, research
papers, lab reports, creative writing projects, scholarship letters
and more.
- The Math Clinics are staffed by advanced mathematics students
who offer help with questions on reading assignments or problem
sets from beginning calculus and statistics courses.
- Student Disability Services provides consultation and advocacy
assistance for students with documented or suspected disabilities.
Services include identifying a disability, reviewing documentation,
assessing study skills and time management needs and implementing
appropriate accommodations.
- The English Project offers individual tutoring for students
who have writing or reading difficulties because English is not
the language spoken at home.
- The Tutoring Program uses subject area tutors who are approved
by department faculty and trained by the ASC to work with students
experiencing serious difficulties in a particular course. Tutoring
is available in most subject areas as part of an overall plan
developed collaboratively with an ASC professional staff member.
All ASC services are free of charge for full-time
St. Olaf students.
Most students first encounter the ASC at Schedule
Planning Workshops during Week One and at a series of sessions
called “Beyond Basic Academic Survival” on the day
before classes begin.
Student Disability Services
Student Disability Services is the designated office
on the St. Olaf College campus that verifies and files documentation,
establishes reasonable accommodations and acts as a resource/advocate
for students with disabilities. Any student who has need for accommodations
should contact the coordinator, Student Disability Services, Room
1, Old Main Annex, Academic Support Center, (507) 646-3364.
To be eligible for services, students must have
a documented disability: a physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more of the major life activities (walking, seeing,
speaking, learning, breathing, working, taking care of oneself,
performing manual tasks).
Student Disability Services seeks to provide equal
access to students with disabilities through accommodations and
support and to inform and edify the entire college community about
disability concerns
Student Support Services
The St. Olaf College Student Support Services (SSS)
program is a college retention program funded by the U.S. Department
of Eudcation and St. Olaf College. For a full description of the
services it provides, look under Student Support Services in the
Life Outside the Classroom section.
Other ACADEMIC support
Class Attendance
Class attendance is expected and usually required. Irregular
class attendance becomes the concern of the college since absence
from class represents an academic loss. Excessive or prolonged
absences are reported by instructors to the Dean of Students
Office.
Study Time and Study Habits
Many students need to adjust their time use habits on arrival
at college. St. Olaf students report spending, on average,
two to three hours of study outside of class for each hour
in class. Making the best use of the limited time available
usually requires using a good mix of daylight and evening hours
for studying and avoiding study marathons. Successful study at St. Olaf
usually includes reading ahead, attending class, using office
hours, studying for each class in frequent, short study sessions,
attending help sessions, forming a study group, asking questions
soon after they arise and seeking help if the preceding efforts
don't appear to be working.
Study Groups
Most students find it helpful in at least some of their courses
to form a study group of two to five interested classmates.
Such groups often improve understanding of course material
through discussing assignments, exploring course ideas further,
brainstorming possible test questions for each other or formulating
questions to bring up in class.
Faculty Office Hours
Professors hold office hours for the classes they
teach. “Office hours” are
regular times set aside each week to talk with students from class — usually
on a walk-in basis. This provides an opportunity to ask questions about class
topics, to extend the class discussion or to get to know instructors better.
Help Sessions
Many departments hold special help sessions or discussion
groups for particular courses. These are usually listed on syllabi
for those courses and are usually staffed with upperclass students
who have been successful in the course. These sessions may offer
an opportunity to get a second look at the class material, to rehearse
the ideas and vocabulary and to ask questions.
Continuous Reporting System
Instructors are required to file a continuous reporting
form that alerts the Office of the Dean of Students to students
who are having attendance, academic or personal difficulties in
a course.
|