Campus Resources Provide Support to Students

The Student Life section of Utah State Today highlights work written by the talented student journalists at Utah State University. Each week, the editor selects a story that has been published in The Utah Statesman or the Hard News Café or both for inclusion in Utah State Today.

By April Ashland in The Utah Statesman Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Student fees and tuition cover a variety of resources on campus to encourage involvement and academic success. From study tips and free math tutoring to advocate programs for students with disabilities, Utah State University offers help to all students who seek it.

The Disability Resource Center is located in Room 103 of the University Inn and serves 900 students as of this semester. The center helps students with documented disabilities with their classes.

“We are here to make sure students with disabilities have equal access to their education,” said Diane Baum, director of the DRC.

Baum has worked for the university in the DRC for 31 years, and said she’s seen the center grow from assisting 47 students who were deaf or hard of hearing to currently working with the 900 who are enrolled.

In 1981, when Baum first arrived at Utah State University, her budget for giving services was $13,000, which was the same as her salary as a half-time worker for the school year. Since then she has lobbied and worked with other schools to receive funding for the program. Most of the money to support the DRC comes from the state legislature, with a small portion coming from the computer fees on campus. All services are available to students with disabilities.

“It’s against the law to make students with disabilities pay for our services,” she said. “Everyone uses the computer labs on campus, and we have a computer lab with specific technology for students with disabilities.”

The DRC serves students with any sort of documented disability, including mental illnesses, learning disabilities, sensory impairments such as low vision, blindness and hearing loss, physical limitations such as back injuries, medical conditions such as diabetes, organ transplants and multiple sclerosis.

Baum said students with disabilities need to fill out an application and make an appointment to meet with a staff member.

“We have them meet with someone so we can understand the resources they’ll need,” she said.

The DRC is currently functioning because of governmental mandates and programs, Baum said. In 1973, legislation was put into effect which set an expectation for colleges and universities to provide equal access to all students.

“I got here in ‘81, and we survived on donations and money from the state,” Baum said.

When the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, higher standards were set for higher education institutions.

“Times changed,” she said to explain the legislation. “Things always change like the definition of disability.”

Baum said previous legislation requires K through 12 schools to search out students with disabilities and accommodate them. When coming to college, students are required to find the help themselves because college is not a requirement.

“K through 12 schools are an entitlement,” Baum said. “Higher education is an option.”

While students have the responsibility to reach out to the DRC to receive help, the center goes to local high schools in the spring of each year to make incoming students aware of the resources they have.

“We make them aware of the services available, because otherwise some won’t even consider college if they don’t know what is available,” Baum said.

The DRC offers many services such as sign language interpreters, a special lab with updated technology, a scholarship program and note taking assistance.

When disabled students took a class and needed help taking notes, the DRC used to let the professors know and ask for volunteers. Now, they do things a little differently.

“We are required to find qualified assistance for those we serve,” Baum said. “We go into the class list and see who has good grades, and ask them if they are interested.”

The DRC serves those who have a current, documented disability, but the first step is to go apply.

The Academic Resource Center is located in TSC 305 and boasts a staff of four, along with approximately 40 supplemental instructors and 25 math and stats tutors per semester.

Associate Director Dennis Kohler said any student can and should use the center.

“They should use us because we’re here,” he said. “Every student struggles sometimes, and we’re here to help.”

Kohler said he’s seen students from all ages and levels of school, from an honors student who didn’t know how to start working on a thesis paper to freshmen who don’t know what to do.

“There’s a massive difference between high school and college,” he said. “There’s a difference in what’s expected from the students in that time, as well as from freshman year to senior year. The types of skills and the work effort grows dramatically, and everybody’s had a time when they could use the help.”

Kohler has said he’s also seen some graduate students come in to receive help, but most of the students are in the first two years of college.

The ARC offers three main types of assistance for students: supplemental instruction (SI), tutoring and individual consultation.

SI’s are classes taught by students who have already passed a class with a certain grade or better who then teach a supplemental class for students. These classes accompany most of the large general education classes, Kohler said.

The Math and Stats Tutoring Lab is for students enrolled in Math 900 through 2250, 2270 and 2280 and Statistics 1040, 2000 and 3000.

When the lab is open, it becomes a gathering place for students of varying abilities to work on homework assignments and receive another lesson from students who have already taken that level of math.

Becca Capell, a senior majoring in exercise science who works as a student tutor in the math side of the tutoring lab, said she comes in to answer questions and help students reach understanding.

“It’s a fun job,” Capell said. “I get to help people and keep up on my math skills. Mostly I help the students come to their own conclusion about their questions.”

Capell is still in her first few weeks of tutoring for the math lab, but she said she’s not an amateur when it comes to math. “I’m a math minor, and the highest I’ve gone is Math 5710,” she said. “Once you get into the highest classes, you can just take whatever.”

Capell said it’s still the beginning of the semester but the lab is being used by students, some of whom are in the same classes.

“People will come in separately and then work together,” she said. “Peers from class can answer each other’s questions, and it’s a nice way to connect.”

The third type of assistance for students offered by the ARC is individual consultations. Students come to the ARC office in a number of ways — from a referral from Counseling and Psychological Services, from the DRC, from University Advising or on their own.

Kohler said he sees many problems, the two most common being memory and time management issues.

“Almost every student doesn’t have enough time,” Kohler said. “We tell students that being a student is a full time job, 40 hours a week, and on top of that they have a real job and then their other activities.”

Students who are involved in extracurricular activities such as clubs and social groups are more likely to stay involved with the university, Kohler said. Students are happier when they are social and have other things to do.

“Until the physics department can create a time machine, we teach students how to more effectively manage their time,” Kohler said.

To do this the ARC offers a class, Psych 1730, which is open to all students but is designed for freshmen and sophomore students and is offered twice in the fall and spring semesters, as well as once during the summer. Students can add themselves to the class at midterm for the second session.

The ARC also has study kits and idea sheets located outside their office to help students receive instructional information on their own schedule for study issues such as test anxiety, time management, textbook reading and others. The idea sheets can also be found online.

The ARC doesn’t handle the therapy some students need in order to deal with some study issues, but Kohler said they do have ways to handle stress and anxiety as well as procrastination.

“For most people, procrastination is fixable,” Kohler said. “We don’t do therapy, but we find a lot of procrastination is a fear of perfection and not knowing where to start.”

But even if Kohler and the other staff at the ARC don’t have the answers to a specific problem, they can find it.

“Ask for help now rather than later,” Kohler said. “If we don’t have the answers, someone on this floor will.”

– april.ashland@aggiemail.usu.edu