The Learning and Writing Center
The Learning and Writing Center took up residence in a newly remodeled space in Old Main 214 during Fall 2004. The LWC provides free tutoring to all undergraduates in a variety of subject areas on an individual and small group basis. A team of qualified peer tutors are selected each year to assist fellow students outside of the classroom. The peer tutoring staff consists of both subject area tutors and peer readers. Peer tutors assist in such courses as accounting, biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, math, world languages, and physics. The mission of the Learning and Writing Center is to enhance student success by providing a collaborative learning community and resources that foster academic achievement and promote life-long learning.

The LWC staff includes Gloria Martin, Writing Center Director; Deborah DeBow, Learning Center Director; Karen McSwain, Director of Disability Support Services; a half-time Writing Specialist; and Barbara Lensch, LWC/Title III Administrative Assistant. The staff has enjoyed offering a comfortable and inviting space for students to participate in faculty-led help sessions and to meet with other students for paired tutoring, writing assistance, and small study groups. Individual learning profiles are offered to students who wish to reinforce their study strategies by employing techniques in areas such as time management, reading comprehension, note-taking, test preparation, and memory aids. The Learning and Writing Center offers a series of Academic Success Workshops each semester for all students. Reasonable and appropriate academic accommodations can be arranged for students with disabilities through Disability Support Services.

Faculty development
In addition to the services provided in the Learning and Writing Center, Activity II continues to develop faculty training for integrating technology into the classroom. This spring, five Engaging Students with Technology scholarships were awarded to faculty. For example, Dr. Darrell Axtell and Dr. Greg Milligan were awarded a scholarship to increase student participation in Chemistry by integrating the use of Personal Response System technology into their courses. They intend to demonstrate that the use of the PRS technology will enhance student learning and improve "professional efficiency" through the increased short-term and long-term awareness of student participation they expect to derive from the data collected by the PRS "clickers." Dr. Abdelmessih, another scholarship recipient, will introduce engineering students to computerized heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (CHVAC) software that is used by mechanical engineers throughout the United States. The grant will provide an experiential learning opportunity for students and will help reinforce their understanding of the CHVAC instrumentation and make them more industry-prepared and better engineers.

In addition to the faculty scholarships, professional learning opportunities have been provided throughout the academic year. Spring semester started with a one day faculty in-service dedicated to the topic of Student Engagement and Learning. A morning workshop was facilitated by Gillies Malnarich and Emily Decker Lardner of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education. In June, the third annual Innovative Ways to Integrate Technology into the Classroom workshops were held. Also this year, most full-time faculty received training on IQ.Web, the faculty and student interface to the PowerCampus administrative software system provided by Activity I. Each division has identified an "IQ.Web Guru," an individual who received additional training and will serve as the first contact person for on-going peer user support and problem solving on IQ.Web This training has focused on how the software can be used to support advising (ASAP) and on some of the software's course management features.

Finally, planning is underway for the implementation of another Smart Classroom, which is scheduled for development in the the grant's final year.