Mid-term/Finals Academic Support Resources
Dear family and friends of Goucher students,
As we are approaching the midpoint of the fall semester, we hope your students are enjoying their classes and engaging in our many campus activities.
As October 9 is the last day of the seven-week courses, your student may be preparing for mid-terms and/or finals. We want to remind you of the academic support and advising services offered by the Academic Center for Excellence and other academic supports on campus, including the Writing Center and Quantitative Reasoning Center.
ACE: Academic Center for Excellence
The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) is an academic and advising support center that embraces the strengths of a liberal arts education’s holistic nature. ACE assists students in maximizing their potential to flourish and succeed—at Goucher and beyond. It prepares students for a life of inquiry, creativity, social responsibility, and personal and professional ethics and integrity. ACE includes Academic Success Coaching, the Office of Accessibility Services, and Success Advising.
Academic Success Coaching
ACE supports the college’s mission by providing individual academic success coaching sessions and academic skills workshops. The center is staffed by professional academic coaches and peer coaches, providing undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to:
- develop self-awareness and autonomy;
- develop positive habits of mind;
- take responsibility and ownership for their learning;
- develop resilience and coping skills;
- learn and use effective study strategies; and
- enhance and apply critical and analytical thinking skills.
To view more information on ACE’s Academic Success Coaching, visit the Academic Success Coaching page.
Office of Accessibility Services
Goucher College seeks to provide equal educational opportunities for qualified students with disabilities. This is consistent with our Community Principle of Inclusion, which states that we will acknowledge and embrace the unique gifts and differences of our community members. We are committed to compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other relevant state and federal legislation.
The Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) works with faculty, staff, and students to provide appropriate accommodations so that students have an equal opportunity to participate inside the classroom and in college programs and activities. For more information on ACE’s Office of Accessibility Services, visit the Accessibility Services page.
Success Advising
Every first-year student at Goucher is assigned a Success Advisor, who works with each advisee throughout their undergraduate career. Success advisors assist students with academic planning and navigating the resources, expectations, and challenges of being a Goucher student. They coach their advisees academically while also helping them identify their passions, goals, and interests.
Success Advisors work closely with other Success Team members and key campus partners to guide their advisees in self-discovery and connect students to campus resources if they encounter academic, financial, or personal challenges. For more information on ACE’s Success Advising, visit the Success Advising page.
Writing Center
The Writing Center is a student-support unit that offers one-on-one consultations for any aspect related to writing, from brainstorming ideas to polishing drafts. We believe that all writers need readers; therefore, each one of our tutoring sessions is a collaboration between the student and the tutor, individually designed to help meet their particular needs. We offer speaking sessions for English language learners, and we can be a practice audience for oral and group presentations. To make our services more accessible, students can schedule in-person or online (synchronous and asynchronous) sessions or just use our walk-in hours.
To better meet the needs of students across majors, we currently have 15 peer tutors on our staff representing a variety of disciplines. All have been trained and continue to receive professional development throughout their employment. You can find a list of tutors online. For more information about the Writing Center, please visit the Writing Center page and follow us on Instagram @goucher_writingcenter.
Quantitative Reasoning Center
The Quantitative Reasoning (QR) Center supports students in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, science, social science, and other courses with a quantitative emphasis. The QR Center provides programming to help students develop quantitative literacy and apply mathematics and math-based skills to real-life situations. We have more than 10 tutors from a wide array of subjects and countries. Our tutors receive training and constant professional development to provide the best academic support for students. Check out the QR Center page for information on drop-in hours. If those hours don’t fit your schedule or you need extra support in a subject, you can schedule a private or group appointment on our site. Please contact qrcenter@goucher.edu if you have questions.
Happy Homework Hour
The Happy Homework Hour is a time and space dedicated to support students socially and academically to create a stronger sense of community and belonging. It runs every Monday and Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the entrance of Mary Fisher Hall. Students gather to do homework, have a snack, strike up a conversation, socialize, and meet other people from different majors and classes. Our tutors can guide you with homework or material from class, share their experiences at Goucher, tell you about events and activities on campus, and connect you with other students.
We look forward to continuing to partner with you to support your student’s success,
Citlali Miranda-Aldaco
Assistant Professor, Center for Hispanic and Latinx Studies
Director, Quantitative Reasoning Center
Kimberly Meisel
Director, Academic Advising and Support
Lana Oweidat
Associate Professor, Professional and Creative Writing
Director, Writing Center