Pitt’s Academic Support Services Reorganized

By Patricia Lomando White

Ron Brown

Ron Brown has been in the academic support services field for more than 20 years. Recognized as a national expert in program development through his work with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Brown faces a fresh challenge as assistant dean and director of the University of Pittsburgh’s new Academic Support Center (ASC) within the Faculty and College of Arts and Sciences (FCAS).

Pitt has traditionally provided support services through different academic departments, but, beginning this Fall Term, a comprehensive academic support services program is available to Pitt students.

“We chose to go with the comprehensive support services program after studying this option for five years through the Enrollment Management Committee, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the associate dean in CAS (College of Arts and Sciences), and the associate dean in Student Affairs,” said Brown.

The ASC will serve as the umbrella entity linking four component services programs: Learning Support Services, the University Writing Center, the Math Assistance Center, and Athletic Support Services, which Brown directed for a number of years.

“The learning support side of things, which we call the Academic Support Center, is the hub of all the operations,” said Brown. “Within that program, we’re looking to provide developmental educational experiences for the students that typically revolve around learning skills, study skills, academic counseling, and some advising, which gives us a way to identify and assess students needs.”

According to Brown, the primary focus of the ASC is going to be on retention and performance enhancement.

“We’d like students at Pitt to feel that if they are struggling they can come in and get some help,” he said. “It’s a comprehensive program that’s not just for tutoring, not just for counseling, and not just for study skills. Students will work with an academic counselor who can prescribe a recommended service, whether it is needed for a day, a week, a month, a term, or throughout the academic calendar year.”

Another component of the ASC is the University Writing Center, housed in the Department of English.

“We are attempting to establish a working relationship through the center concept that will allow us to make referrals to the services and resources of the writing center, and to have the writing center do the same, as it recognizes students who have some need for additional kinds of support that the learning support services side can provide,” said Brown.

The Math Assistance Center takes advantage of the staff and the resources of the former Learning Skills Center and works in collaboration with the Department of Mathematics to provide all levels of math assistance to undergraduate students. The staff will include math instructors and the approximately 38 undergraduate teaching assistants who teach recitation sections for math courses.

Several existing programs have come under the umbrella of the ASC. One is CAS’s freshman intervention program, which monitors first-year students’ academic performance and identifies those who may have problems. The other is the freshman hotline, where faculty can report any concerns they have about students who are in their classes.

Two federally funded programs that provide support to select populations of students at the University also have been folded into the ASC, the University Challenge for Excellence Program, which is a special access program dedicated to retention initiatives for first-generation college students, and Upward Bound, Pitt’s high school outreach program.

Brown is eminently qualified to take on the challenge of running the new center. He is the peer reviewer for the NCAA certification program for Division I institutions and was on the executive board (1995-2000) and served as president (1998-99) of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A), which is an umbrella organization for institutions across the country at every level. Within the scope of his work for N4A, Brown completed a comprehensive study of academic support services at both four-year and two-year colleges, creating a national handbook that N4A uses for its membership institutions nationwide.

Currently, the ASC is located in the home of the former Learning Skills Center, on the third floor of the William Pitt Union. The English Writing Center is moving out of the Cathedral of Leaning and into the mezzanine of Thaw Hall, and the Math Assistance Center will be located within the mathematics department, in Thackeray Hall.

The ASC, which employs approximately 25 full-time staff members, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. There are about 20 student academic counselors who have been trained as academic mentors and will conduct study skills workshops, both in groups and one-on-one. They will be working with eight full-time academic counselors, who will provide day-to-day support for students.

“It’s really an exciting opportunity for me, not only to be in the position to lead the process, but also to work with some great, committed people in the program who have been supporting students for years. This goes beyond just being a job for them; it’s the substance of who they are, and it’s what’s going to make this program successful,” Brown said.

As leader of the team, Brown is ready for the challenge.

“It’s about retention and performance,” he said. “We’ve got to keep students in school long enough to graduate. But then we want to make sure that when they walk out the door, they represent the best of what the University of Pittsburgh is all about.”