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Academic Skills Center helps to reawaken talentBill Preston has the unusual title of "writing consultant" for the Academic Skills Center at the Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education at the University of Rhode Island, assigned to work with a history class filled with adult students. The 46-year-old student is also a computer tutor, helping fellow students ease on to the technology superhighway. "When you're out of school for a number of years, your skills are dull. You need to know how to reawaken your talents," said the man who only two and a half years ago thought technology had passed him by. "If it weren't for the Academic Skills Center, a number of students would probably give up. You have to remember we are not kids here," he said. "Most of us are working, many of us have families. When you're asked to write a thesis and you have no idea how to begin, it's easy to say 'to hell with it.'" The Center evolved from a Writing Center established during the mid 1980s with one very part-time employee in the basement of the old CCE building on Promenade Street. Today, the Center located on the third floor of the renovated Shepard building offers free help to any student who wants to improve his or her learning skills. In addition, students for whom English is a second language and students with learning, physical, or psychological disabilities can receive specialized assistance. On average, the Center annually gives 210 computer tutorials, 275 math tutorials, 160 Spanish tutorials, and 300 writing tutorials. Tammy Bolotow, who earned an undergraduate psychology degree from the College in 1980 and a master's in English literature and comparative literature from Simmons, is the coordinator. The Center has two part-time English faculty members who tutor writing and one part-time math professor who helps remove some of the anxiety. The rest of the Center employees are paid student workers with academic strength like Preston. "By far, computer tutors are the most in demand. Returning students often enroll with virtually no computer experience. Spanish tutors are also in demand and students are often seeking help with math and writing - two subjects that produce a preconceived idea of failure," said the coordinator. One of the most innovative programs run by the Center is the Undergraduate Writing Consultants Program initiated at ASF-CCE last fall by URI English Professor Linda Shamoon, who heads URI's College Writing Program. Faculty with classes with a writing component were asked if they could benefit from having a writing consultant assigned to their class. They were also asked to recommend names of successful former students who could be potential consultants. "The program is growing by leaps and bounds," said Bolotow. "The students love it. The faculty love it. The consultants love it." "The Center is the best resource we have," said Preston, who recalls sitting with a student who literally wrote three-word sentences. "I showed him how to organize a paper. We talked about content and what he wanted to say," said the writing consultant. "I don't write papers for students, I show them how. And when they get it, you should see them light up. And when they do, a little piece of me goes with them." By Jan Sawyer |
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