Centers offer evening help

Students looking for homework or study help late at night have a place to turn.\nThe Academic Support Center offers tutoring in various subjects, workshops and advising 7 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday.\n"From seven to midnight is the times when students remember all the last-minute assignments that have been put off," said senior Julia Gerhardt, one of the center's receptionists. "The center is always the busiest on the night before a big finite or calculus test."\nData collected by the support center's faculty and staff show there is a noticeable improvement in student grade point averages for first-year students who visit the center regularly. \n"By helping students successfully navigate their first year in college, I believe the ASC provides a valuable service to both the students and to the University community," Director Leslie Robinson said.\nThere are centers located in the north part of campus at Briscoe Quad and in the central part of campus at Ashton Center.\nBecause of the concept of neighborhoods initiated by Residential Programs and Services, beginning in fall 2001, there will also be a center in the south part of campus at Forest Quad to better serve students.\nGraduate adviser Abby Hunt said the centers are not just for students who are struggling in certain subjects. \n"No matter how successful a student might be academically, they can always become better prepared and more aware of their own learning styles," Hunt said.\nThe center holds tutoring sessions for math, science, business, Spanish and French. Students can also take advantage of the writing tutorial services and workshops, said Linda Ly, another receptionist.\nFour branches work collaboratively to provide services for students: the math department, facilitating math tutoring from M014 to some upper level courses; the Student Academic Center, whose primary focus is to provide workshops that will assist students with the development of study skills; Writing Tutorial Services, which will help students in any stage of the writing process; and University Division Academic Advisers, who offer advising services on a walk-in basis.\n"IU is fortunate in the quality of University advisers and counselors who work with these students on a daily basis," said Frank Motley, associate vice chancellor for academic support.\nBesides the tutorial services available at the center, there are many workshops offered for students or even faculty to attend. \n"The purpose of these free workshops is to cover a wide variety of learning topics, such as stress management and goal setting, to make students more efficient and effective," said Sharon Chertkoff, outreach coordinator for the Student Academic Center.\nExamples of upcoming workshops hosted by the center are "Conquering Math Learning Problems Before They Defeat you," Feb. 13 and "How to Beat Procrastination Forever," March 27, both at the Briscoe Academic Support Center, and "How to Study Effectively for Chemistry and Physics Courses," Feb. 19 at the Ashton Academic Support Center. \nFor more information, contact the Briscoe Academic Support Center at 855-6931 or the Ashton Academic Support Center at 856-4457.