Professional News

UK Academic Enhancement Wins National Learning Center Award

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 7, 2015) — Members of Transformative Learning from Academic Enhancement and Presentation U! at University of Kentucky have traveled this week to the National College Learning Center Association’s (NCLCA) 30th Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they accepted the Frank Christ/NCLCA Outstanding Learning Center Award.

NCLCA is a national organization dedicated to supporting learning center professionals and a member of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. NCLCA defines a learning center at an institute of higher education as, interactive, academic spaces which 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 applying best practices, student learning theory 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 and personal success.

Frank Christ was the founder of the Winter Institutes for Learning Assistance Professionals and was actively involved with learning assistance for over 40 years. He was the founder and past coordinator of the award-winning Learning Assistance Support System at California State University, Long Beach. He was also a founder and past president of the Western College Reading Association, now known as the College Reading and Learning Association. The purpose of the NCLCA Frank Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award is to give national recognition to the work done by learning centers and to foster their future growth and development. Each year, NCLCA may recognize two learning assistance centers for excellence: one two-year college and one four-year college or university.

On Oct. 6, at this year's awards banquet, UK Academic Enhancement was named and celebrated as a recipient of the Frank Christ/NCLCA Outstanding Learning Center Award. On hand to accept the award for UK Academic Enhancement was Jim Breslin, UK alumnus and 2014-2015 interim director of Academic Enhancement. Additionally, Jane Jensen, assistant provost for Transformative Learning; Molly Reynolds, executive director of Transformative Learning; Tourgee Simpson, director of Academic Enhancement; Christie Maier, assistant director of Peer-Tutoring; Abby Essinger, program coordinator; Mary Ann Nestmann, instructional technology director of Transformative Learning; Chance Davenport, director assessment for Transformative Learning; and Rachael Deel, marketing director for Transformative Learning, were present to represent and support Academic Enhancement. 

UK Academic Enhancement is part of Transformative Learning, part of the university's Division of Undergraduate Education. Academic Enhancement’s mission is to enhance the academic experience of all students at UK by providing programs and services that support students in mastering the skills needed to become successful lifelong learners.

Academic Enhancement was created in 2004, in response to the recommendation from UK's 2002 Provost Task Force to “establish a student resource center.” Additionally, in response to the assessed need for centralized academic assistance for the general population of students, Academic Enhancement is purposefully designed to enhance the scholarship of any student seeking to improve academic strategies.

Since its inception in 2004, Academic Enhancement has developed into the standard of best practices in co-curricular academic support, as well as extended expertise as an essential partner and source of resources for other units on campus that provide support to targeted undergraduate student sub-populations. Academic Enhancement’s signature service, the Peer Tutoring Program (PTP), provides high quality co-curricular support for more than 30 courses. The PTP continues to be the office's most popular service and, by all measures, has established the department as an ingrained aspect of student culture at UK. Between the hours of 2-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday one can find hundreds of students receiving support from certified peer-tutors at one of two convenient locations.

PTP and Academic Enhancement’s administrative offices are housed at The Study, located on the third floor of Complex Commons and on north campus, The Study North, at the Champions Court I. In the 2014-15 academic year more than 27,000 individual tutoring sessions were held at The Study and The Study North and the office predicts that number will increase to 30,000+ students this year.

Even more important than the quantitative data collected is the feedback gained from qualitative assessment, which includes the following statements from students when asked what was the most valuable thing they gained from The Study, "That it is okay to ask someone for help even if you feel like you already understand the subject" and "That even if your answer is right it doesn't mean you solved the problem the right way." Or, when asked to comment about The Study in general students responded with "I liked the one-on-one experience. Even the environment enabled me to get a lot of homework done, because there was people near me working on homework as well; they shared my motivation" and "I am very impressed with the study and utilize it all the time for help in my classes. I have been coming to the study for the past year and a half and always leave feeling better about my schoolwork."

"From all of us at Transformative Learning, we wish to congratulate Academic Enhancement on this prestigious award. It is an honor to work alongside of professionals so dedicated to developing innovative programs that foster student success," Assistant Provost Jane Jensen said.

For additional information about the conference and award, visit www.nclca.org/annualconference.htm. Visit www.uky.edu/AE to learn all about The Study and the numerous other programs UK Academic Enhancement offers. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu