VSU’s Student Success Center Becomes Academic Support Center

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s Student Success Center is now the Academic Support Center.

The renaming was made to distinguish the Academic Support Center from VSU’s new Division of Student Success, led by vice president Dr. Rodney Carr. 

“We changed our name to decrease confusion about whom to call for help with coursework,” said Dr. Chere Peguesse, director of the Academic Support Center and associate professor of English. “The Academic Support Center, our new name, also better reflects what we do. We support students through tutoring, tutor-led study groups for historically difficult courses, and success workshops on topics like time management and study skills. It also gives us a groovy little jingle: ‘Need help? Just ASC!’”

All the services offered at the Student Success Center are still offered at the Academic Support Center. Those services include free one-on-one and small group tutoring to VSU students for undergraduate courses and popular standardized exams; tutoring for the community at a reasonable fee; workshops on academic and life skills; and technological assistance, such as how to use Microsoft Office Suite products. The center also provides supplemental instruction leaders to lead peer-assisted study sessions for various courses.

The Academic Support Center will remain housed in Langdale Hall, but plans are in place to relocate the center to the second floor of Odum Library within the next year.

“This move has been on our dream list for many years because it is central to campus and partners us more closely with the library support students depend on,” Peguesse said. “In other words, students will be able to meet with tutors and then with research librarians or the New Media Center or the archives all in one space.”

The Academic Support Center also plans to expand the number of supplemental instruction leaders to include a wider range of courses. 

“Our tutors understand how to help students identify their most urgent problems, show them ways to solve those problems, encourage the students to apply solutions, and then check to make sure the student understands,” Peguesse said. “Our goal is to make ourselves unnecessary by helping students become independent learners. Our data consistently show that 80 percent of students who visit five or more times raise their course grades significantly and are 83 percent more likely to graduate.”

Those interested in scheduling an appointment at the Academic Support Center or applying for a job as a tutor or supplemental instruction leader should visit www.valdosta.edu/asc, call (229) 333-7570, or stop by the center in Langdale Hall.