Starting A Learning Assistance Center

Collected by the staff of the National College Learning Center Association, this vital collection of essays is designed to guide learning assistance professionals supporting student success initiatives in higher education.

The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Learning Center Administration is a comprehensive guide to everything that both new and experienced learning center professionals need to know in order to deliver impactful, effective services for the campuses they serve, articulate the value of the programs they oversee, and provide peer tutors with the conditions for success. The companion to the popular Rowman & Littlefield Guide for Peer Tutors, The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Learning Center Administration provides a thorough and readable overview of both theoretical considerations (the historical context of learning centers in higher education, an articulation of the principles that underlie peer tutoring programs, and a cataloging of the various extant forms of peer-led learning) and organizational concerns (building a suite of programming, hiring and training student employees, program assessment, campus outreach, marketing, reporting) in the administration of peer tutoring programs in higher education. The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Learning Center Administration presents a structured approach that is firmly grounded in empirical findings from across the literature of teaching, learning, and student success, and it articulates a set of best practices that can be used as a guide in evaluation and assessment for learning centers.

The Rowman & Littlefield Guide for Peer Tutors introduces college students to the field of peer tutoring, providing a theoretical background and practical guidance for peer tutors in higher education. Taking an innovative approach firmly grounded in the science of learning and cognition, the text guides college students in thinking critically about their work as educators and in making informed choices in working with learners. A vibrant, engaging read, the text covers topics essential for all peer tutors, across writing, mathematics, the sciences, languages, and other disciplines: the brain-based reality of learning, active and collaborative pedagogies, the role of learning centers in colleges and universities, models for tutoring, the transition to college, metacognition, study strategies, online environments, and much more. An ideal supporting text for both tutor training programs and courses for peer educators, this book provides support for learning and writing center administrators in welcoming college students to the field of peer-led learning and for tutors in the work of acting as guides and mentors to the fields of inquiry that exist within the academy.

As an official publication of the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA), The Learning Assistance Review (TLAR) seeks to foster communication among higher education learning center professionals. Its audience includes learning center administrators, teaching staff, and professional or student worker tutors, consultants, mentors, and faculty members and administrators who are interested in improving the learning skills of post-secondary students. NCLCA defines a learning center at institutions of higher education as interactive, academic spaces that exist to reinforce and extend student learning in physical and/or virtual environments. A variety of comprehensive support services and programs are offered in these environments to enhance student academic success, retention, and completion rates by apply best practices, student learning theories, and addressing student-learning needs from multiple pedagogical perspectives. Staffed by professionals, paraprofessionals, faculty, and/or trained student educators, learning centers are designed to reinforce the holistic academic growth of students by fostering critical thinking, metacognitive development, and academic personal success.TLAR aims to publish scholarly articles and reviews that address issues of interest to a broad range of academic professionals. Primary consideration will be given to articles about program design and evaluation, classroom-based research, the application of theory and research to practice, innovative teaching strategies, student assessment, and other topics that bridge the gaps within our diverse and growing profession.The journal is published twice a year. All submissions are subject to a masked, double-blind review process. Administrators use their published work to continue the growth and development of the learning commons space on campus, while faculty may use their publications toward promotion and tenure at institutions where student success initiatives are rewarded as part of the process.

The 6th edition of CAS Professional Standards includes functional area contextual statements, examples of learning and development outcomes; new standards for Service- Learning Programs, Health Promotions, Internships, Education Abroad, and College Honor Societies; revised standards for Commuter & Off-Campus Living, Housing and Residence Life, Student Conduct, Women's Programs, Multicultural Programs, Clinical Health Services, Academic Advising, Orientation, and Religious/Spiritual; plus the Statement of Shared Ethical Principles and Characteristics of Individual Excellence.

While the phrase “learning communities” has various definitions, at the heart of all programs is the goal of enhancing the student learning experience in the community of others. This volume provides valuable information about learning communities--from start to finish--including: • historical and theoretical foundations that guide these programs, • structures of learning communities that provide varied opportunities for student participation, with a focus on specific student populations who may benefit from learning community experiences, and • elements of staffing and assessment, as well as an annotated bibliography of recent learning community literature. The authors consider critical elements of learning community programs and offer recommendations and options for faculty and staff who work with, or hope to work with, this particular curricular and cocurricular learning structure. This the 149th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.