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Center for Academic Success Academic Support Endowment

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Graduating the best and brightest for a stronger community!

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“When I started college, I felt lost. The Center for Academic Success introduced me to individuals and resources on campus that I didn’t know were available, and, most importantly, they taught me how to be a successful learner. Now I’m in a career that requires me to be a lifetime learner. Without the skills they gave me, I would not have been able to accomplish all that I have.”

— Ryan C. Julien, MDBiological Sciences Alumnus (currently in his second year of

emergency medicine residency at the Interim LSU Hospital in New Orleans)

LEADING THE NATION, TRANSFORMING LIVES

Students who engage with the LSU Center for Academic Success (CAS) are, in a word, transformed. The center is an internationally acclaimed, national leader in higher education learning that has directly contributed to LSU’s academic excellence for 25 years. It equips students with tools to develop critical thinking skills, build self-confidence, and improve metacognition—knowledge about becoming actively engaged in their own learning. Ultimately, students who take advantage of the center’s strategic academic support and resources increase their GPAs, persist in their majors of choice, and graduate on time.

From its inception, the center has focused not only on providing academic support for students in need, but also on helping outstanding students improve learning efficiency and effectiveness. In 2001, the then-named Learning Assistance Center became the Center for Academic Success, reflecting an emphasis on working to improve learning strategies of all students, not just those experiencing academic difficulty. With this shift, the center’s efforts to improve student learning led to local, regional, and national recognition—as evidenced by its many awards and requests from other universities seeking to replicate the program.

Transitioning from high school to college learning can be a challenge for many students. LSU’s CAS provides national award-winning first-year academic transition programs, including Geaux Academic and IMPACT.

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The Center for Academic Success is recognized by its peers as one of the nation’s premier learning centers. LSU’s CAS is designated as an Outstanding Learning Center by the National College Learning Center Association and is one of only two such centers in LSU’s Flagship 2020 peer group and the SEC.

Though CAS is a premier center in reputation, its current levels of funding and facilities are not adequate to serve the LSU community. By comparison, Clemson University’s Academic Success Center is an aspirational peer with regard to funding and facilities. Adding to its already generous budget, Clemson has established an endowment of $2.8 million for its learning center to provide additional programming. The impact of the ample funding of Clemson’s learning center and new, state-of-the-art building dedicated to student learning support is reflected in the university’s 91 percent retention rate and 82 percent six-year graduation rate. A similar investment in LSU’s CAS will enable the center to serve even more students in its integral role as part of LSU’s world-class learning environment.

LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander (center) recently hosted a breakfast for CAS tutors and Supplemental Instruction leaders to commend them for their invaluable service and emphasize the long-term impact their efforts have on students’ personal and academic success.

Selected CAS achievements include:

• Director Emerita Dr. Saundra McGuire’s national speaking engagements, awards, and articles on mentoring and metacognition

• CAS staff invitations to present at national conferences and publish in national publications

• Requests by other national and international institutions to model the success of LSU CAS

• 2013 NASPA Promising Practices between Academic and Student Affairs Award for BIOS

• 2012 International Supplemental Instruction Leader Award for LSU student Hunter Chapman

• 2010 NASPA Program Excellence Award for the IMPACT Program

• 2004 Frank Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award

• 2000 Learning Support Centers in Higher Education Outstanding Web Portal

• Support and funding from LSU Student Government to move the CAS tutorial center to Middleton Library

• Support from and collaborations with LSU’s academic colleges

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“As out-of-state parents, we made contact with the Center for Academic Success, which became a wealth of support to our family. Under the leadership and guidance of the counselors, my daughter gained academic confidence, successfully recovered her grades, and is entering her senior year at LSU.”

— Kandy OutlawLSU Parent

CONTINUING A HISTORY OF SUCCESS

National focus on increasing student retention, graduation, and workforce development has put an emphasis on strengthening student academic support programs. These programs are not only very popular with students, faculty, and parents, but also necessary to help the university fulfill its mission of “challenging undergraduate and graduate students to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal development.” Over the years, with consistent budget cuts to higher education, the needed growth of academic support programs has exceeded resources available to fund them.

Your philanthropic support will allow CAS to grow and maintain programs that transform student learning, impact the economy, and increase the number of graduates in areas of high demand. LSU students often face at least one or two challenging courses that have the potential to derail their academic paths and future careers. These roadblocks can cause students to drop out of school, change majors, lose scholarships, or graduate at a much later date, leading to unneeded debt. Fortunately, with strategic support, students are able to surmount these obstacles and achieve their dreams.

Students in science majors attending CAS tutoring services four or more times were 24 percent more likely to be retained at LSU than students who did not attend.

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The Center for Academic Success provides students with the learning strategies, academic support, and tools needed to be successful in their majors of choice and graduate in a timely manner. These critical resources, offered at no cost to students, would not be possible without your philanthropic support.

Project Scope

A $5 million endowment will provide perpetual funding for highly significant academic and learning support services at LSU, including CAS academic course support through peer-led tutoring and Supplemental Instruction (SI), as well as academic empowerment initiatives. Your gift will fund resources that provide a first-class learning experience and increase student GPAs and graduation and retention rates.

Part I: Academic course support: peer-led tutoring program

Part II: Academic course support: peer-led Supplemental Instruction program

Part III: Academic empowerment initiatives

A recent LSU student survey indicated that tutoring is one of the most desired services for students.

The critical academic support CAS provides to students directly impacts senior college and university retention and graduation rates.

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Objectives

Your support will:

1. Enhance student success

• Help students succeed in historically challenging introductory-level courses and remain in their majors of choice

• Provide students with tools to promote lifelong learning, critical thinking, and long-term career success

2. Impact the economy

• Increase the number of LSU graduates, growing the global economy

• Minimize the number of graduates with high levels of debt by decreasing the time to graduate and helping students maintain scholarships

• Assist LSU in sustaining critical revenue through improved retention

3. Increase graduates

• In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors

• From diverse backgrounds

• For a stronger Louisiana, nation, and world

The center’s academic support unit provides tutoring and Supplemental Instruction sessions for historically challenging introductory-level courses.

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EMPOWERING STUDENT SUCCESS

LSU seeks to meet changing workforce demands, including the growing need for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates. A roadblock for many incoming first-year students is their successful completion of prerequisite classes needed to enroll in degree-specific course work. First-year students and sophomores who struggle to pass prerequisite classes such as introductory-level physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and accounting are more likely to change majors before graduation. This results in decreased overall retention and graduation rates of business, engineering, and science disciplines, which are heavily recruited at LSU.

The center has demonstrated that helping these students believe in themselves as learners, providing them with metacognitive learning strategies, and the right academic support resources leads to dramatic improvement in their performance and success. GPA effects are not limited to those students with very low grades. Student GPA dissatisfaction occurs from < 2.0 to 3.5 and can lead to students withdrawing from the university. CAS is committed to helping all students increase their GPAs.

“After just two consultations, the Center for Academic Success empowered me to realize I could achieve a level of success that I never thought I was capable of doing at the college level. I never imagined I could earn three consecutive 100 percent grades on my calculus exams and finish in the top of the class. They helped me become not just an ‘A’ student, but a great student.”

— Tyler RobinsonCommunication Studies Alumnus

CAS primarily helps students earn higher GPAs, successfully complete historically difficult courses, and increase academic confidence and critical thinking.

With improved GPAs, students:

• are retained at higher rates

• graduate on time

• succeed in their career of choice

• maintain scholarships and financial aid

• obtain prime employment opportunities

• enter into professional or graduate-level programs

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Students who use CAS services report higher academic confidence and self-efficacy. Strategies focused on learning, critical thinking, and time/stress management help them to become successful LSU Tigers and lifelong learners prepared for the 21st century marketplace.

The center offers free academic course support, with Supplemental Instruction and tutoring for those foundational courses in which students have historically recorded high rates of “D” or “F” grades or have dropped with “W” grades. Students who earn “D,” “F,” or “W” grades in required courses waste valuable time and financial resources by retaking courses, lose financial aid due to poor grades, become discouraged with slow/no academic progress, and may leave LSU altogether—affecting retention and graduation rates.

CAS’s academic empowerment programming and services support students in every college at LSU. These programs include learning strategies consultations, workshops, in-class presentations, specialized college programs, an academic intervention team, and outreach, along with faculty and staff workshops to increase student learning and engagement. Students who improve academic performance, critical thinking, and self-efficacy are empowered to reach their fullest personal and academic potential.

Tutors and Supplemental Instruction leaders are College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) certified—trained to utilize the most up-to-date, research-based techniques.

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Students at LSU who regularly

attend course-associated SI

sessions average a half letter grade higher than

students who do not. The U.S.

Department of Education validates that students participating in SI persist at the institution

(reenrolling and graduating) at higher rates than

students who do not participate in SI.

First-year students in engineering,

science, and business who used some

form of CAS tutoring four or more

times were 17.5 percent more likely to be retained at LSU

than students who did not. Students in engineering

majors attending CAS tutoring services four or more

times were 26 percent more likely to remainin an engineering major than students who did not.

“The College of Science supports the services CAS provides because they positively impact student success by helping them manage their time, customize their learning strategies, and by offering free tutoring and Supplemental Instruction to benefit them in their courses. CAS resources have helped our students improve their GPAs, retention, and academic self-confidence.”

— Guillermo FerreyraProfessor, College of Science

17,500 141,000ANNUAL VISITS

MORE THAN HALF OF ALL LSU STUDENTS

CAS hosts visits from approximately CAS receives approximately

individual students annually

including visits for Web resources.

PROVEN RESULTS: CAS EFFECTIVENESS AT INCREASING STUDENT GPA AND RETENTION

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Students who earn below a 2.0

and attend the two-hour CAS

IMPACT learning strategies

program double their chances of staying at LSU,

obtain a 0.5-0.7 increase in their GPA, and increase their retention from first to second year by 17-20 percent more

than non-attendees.

Students who regularly attend tutoring earn better grades than students who do not.

Students who attend even just one CAS in-class

presentation can improve academic performance.

Chemistry 1201 students who attended a 50-minute

learning strategies presentation

subsequently improved their exam

scores, achieving, on average,

one letter grade higher than

students who did not attend. This

success was recognized on a national level through an

article published in the Journal of Chemical Education.

The center broadly impacts LSU students, with visits from more than 65 percent of first-year students and outreach to nearly all LSU students.

I am able to get great one-on-one help at the tutorial center that otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford.

— Eric CrouchMechanical Engineering Major

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“The center taught me how to better learn and assimilate information by teaching me to focus on understanding concepts and seek answers to the ‘how come,’ ‘what if,’ and ‘why’ questions instead of simply memorizing problem solutions or data sets. This resulted in me obtaining my PhD in chemistry. Moreover, I now teach many of these same techniques that I learned from the center to struggling students either enrolled in my class or in school.”

– Algernon Kelley, PhDFormer CAS student, current Chemistry Lecturer at

the College at Brockport, State University of New York

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

A gift of $5 million in endowed funds to support the LSU Center for Academic Success would have a transformational impact on the center’s ability to perpetually serve students and would be recognized through the opportunity to name the center. Such a gift would enable the CAS to annually hire 100 tutors and SI leaders, who provide peer-led academic support for undergraduate students. Opportunities are also available to endow and name national award-winning CAS programs through our academic empowerment initiatives.

Part I: Tutorial Center Giving Opportunities

The CAS Tutorial Center in Middleton Library currently holds the name of Shell Oil Company in recognition of the company’s support, but it is now available for renaming. Funds will be used to hire 50-60 tutors per year to staff the center, which serves 3,800 students with 28,000 visits annually.

Tutorial center naming $2.5 million/endow 50 tutors per year

STEM tutor naming $1.25 million/endow 25 STEM tutors per year

Business, humanities, and social sciences tutor naming

$1.25 million/endow 25 BHSS tutors per year

Tutor naming $100,000/endow one tutor per year

Semester tutor naming $50,000/endow one tutor for one semester per year

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Part II: Peer-led Supplemental Instruction Program Giving Opportunities

Gifts in support of the CAS SI program will be used to hire 50-60 SI leaders to lead peer-led study sessions for the most historically challenging courses at LSU. The SI program serves an average of 3,300 individual students per semester with a total of approximately 25,000 visits per year.

SI program naming $2.5 million/endow 50 SI leaders per year

Fund construction of SI center in library $150,000 name the space

STEM SI leader naming $1.25 million/endow 25 STEM SI leaders per year

Business, humanities, and social sciences SI leader naming

$1.25 million/endow 25 BHSS SI leaders per year

SI leader naming $100,000/endow one SI leader per year

Semester SI leader naming $50,000/endow one SI leader for one semester per year

“I absolutely believe that a Supplemental Instruction leader can change the academic culture because we spark an interest in students that translates into a passion for learning.”

— Hunter Chapman 2012 International Outstanding

Supplemental Instruction Leader Award, Biological Sciences Alumnus

(currently in optometry school)

Supplemental Instruction is a series of weekly study sessions offered for students enrolled in historically challenging courses.

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Part III: Academic Empowerment Initiatives Giving Opportunities

Funding for the CAS academic empowerment initiatives helps students achieve their highest levels of personal and intellectual development.

IMPACT and Geaux Academic programs$1 million/endow the programs $40,000/support program for one year

Strategic learning initiatives (consultations and workshops)$1 million/endow the program $40,000/support program for one year

Academic Intervention Team $500,000/endow the program $20,000/support program for one year

Learning strategies program support (Math 1021, BIOS, E2, STRIPES)$500,000/endow the program $20,000/support program for one year

Academic coaching program$1 million/endow the program $40,000/support program for one year

Online strategic learning $1 million/endow the program $40,000/support program for one year

Special population academic mentoring and dialogue series$1 million/endow the program $40,000/support program for one year

Faculty initiatives (Faculty Focus, fellowship stipends)$1 million/endow the program $40,000/support program for one year

CAS outreach initiatives (Academic Kickoff, Geaux PASS, Info Fairs, Orientation, SPIN, Tiger Games, etc.)

$500,000/endow the program $20,000/support program for one year

Peer-led academic support training and development$500,000/endow the program $20,000/support program for one year

“LSU’s Center for Academic Success provides individualized tools to help every one of our students succeed, as evidenced by our 69.1 percent graduation rate—a historic high at LSU that is also above the national average. CAS not only supports our students’ work in specific courses, but also helps them to graduate on time, contributing to the fact that LSU students carry nearly 30 percent less debt than those graduating from other public institutions.”

– F. King AlexanderPresident and Chancellor

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