Meet the ASC
By Liz MacDonald '04
Tucked up in the corner of the fourth
floor of South Hall you'll find a place where lamps glow softly
in striking contrast to the fluorescent lights of the hall.
There are comfy thrift store chairs and salvaged coffee tables.
On a bookshelf rests a dictionary, the MLA style guidelines
and the updated edition of Diana Hacker's Writer's Reference.
There are several computer workstations scattered around the
room, and a bowl of ginger snaps on a round table. A coffee
maker gurgles for those who need help staying alert; beside
it is a box of "tension tamer" tea for those who
need to calm down.
Dr. Liz England-Kennedy
Director, Academic Support
Center
|
Welcome to the ASC, or the Academic Support Center to the
uninitiated. This student resource fulfills a variety of functions.
It is a friendly environment for students to compose papers
or catch up on reading. It is also the office that helps make
the campus accessible for people with disabilities. It is
a place to find assistance, whether you need to talk out a
complex issue in your senior project, get an assigned reading
on tape, or take a study break and nibble on some chocolate.
Director Dr. Liz England- Kennedy and Assistant Director John
Smith lead a staff of co-op students, Federal Work Study Students,
and Community Responsibility Scholars who provide tutoring,
time-management, proofreading and disability services to the
community. "We are also one of the leading providers
of free snack food on campus, which guarantees a brisk traffic,"
John comments.
The ASC is a campus hot spot during senior project season,
when it is likely you will see the wall-size dry erase boards
covered by a web diagram outlining the ways in which disabilities
are portrayed in romance novels. There may even be an exhausted
but prolific fourth year camped out at a computer on an 18-hour
writing spree. In their adjoining office, Liz keeps samples
of organizational supplies to help students keep track of
their work and manage their time. "I find giant calendars
are really helpful with senior projects," she laughs.
"In the spring, the ASC puts
on a workshop nicknamed "Senior Project 101," which
covers the basic process of doing a senior project, stress
and time management, and organizational tips. "
In the spring, the ASC puts on a workshop nicknamed "Senior
Project 101," which covers the basic process of doing
a senior project, stress and time management, and organizational
tips.
The ASC is also the home of some specialized software programs.
Some of the programs available cannot be found anywhere else
on campus, such as SPSS, a statistical analysis program for
the social sciences. There is also a program for qualitative
data analysis, and QuickBooks for students in accounting classes
and campus entrepreneurs. Via Voice is a popular dictation
program that can assist students with learning disabilities
such as dyslexia, and Jaws is a screen-reading program useful
to those with visual impairments.
Last fall, the ASC, in collaboration with one of Community
Government's diversity coordinators, put together a newsletter
called Antioch Access. Though it was educational for everyone,
it was geared primarily toward the faculty. "We received
feedback from several faculty members that it helped them
create a better classroom environment," says Liz. In
addition to the newsletter, the ASC presents a disability
fact at Community Meeting each week, and has held workshops
to better educate the community on issues of accessibility.
They recently held a training on video description for the
blind and visually impaired.
John Smith
Assistant Director, Academic
Support Center
|
Tutoring is the other primary function of the ASC. Though
the tutoring staff varies from term to term, English and math
are always covered. If there isn't a tutor on staff specializing
in a certain subject, the ASC will arrange for a volunteer
tutor on a case-by-case basis. "We have difficulty maintaining
a group of people who can tutor in all the languages offered,
but it's fairly easy to find a student who is not employed
by the ASC to help," Liz comments. "We're also working
in cooperation with the sciences to have some of their TA's
spend some time tutoring over here, which expands our staff
and capabilities."
By summer, the ASC will have expanded its facilities from
the fourth floor of South Hall to an additional space in Main
Building. John explains, "It's going to be a place to
do work. South Hall will still be the office part, the nerve
center as it were, and then the new space will have computers
and it'll have places to study. It will also have rooms that
can be closed off, so people can do their work in relative
quiet. People can plan projects there, too."
Every term, two-thirds of the students on campus utilize
the ASC and its resources. When asked for her observations
on Antioch students, Liz replies, "They take risks. Even
when they're scared, which I think is very commendable. This
place is very stressful; it places more demands on students
than any place I've ever seen. They are very resilient, they're
creative, they're fun, they want to be challenged more than
they want an easy road."
|
