The University Learning Center cultivates the lifelong learning potential of UNCW students. We provide programs and services that support students as they develop independent learning strategies, personal responsibility, intellectual maturity, transferable skills, and a respect for diverse learning experiences. (more)
The University Learning Center is committed to being a vital part of UNCW students' education. Our services are based on the principle that quality learning takes place when peers work collaboratively to develop knowledge and build skills. The University Learning Center provides students a learning environment and experience that differs from the classroom; we focus on high-quality individual, small-group and large-group student-centered learning.
All of our peer tutors are faculty-recommended, maintain a minimum GPA, and are trained to be effective peer educators.
The University Learning Center (ULC) houses several different peer tutoring services in one office. For many years, these services were in different locations around campus: The Writing Center was originally housed in the English Department in Morton Hall (and then later in the library), the Math Lab was located in the Math Department in Bear Hall for many years, and the Learning Center was a part of General College (now University College) and was in the library. All of these centers provided peer tutoring, but they were not coordinated and students had to travel all over campus to find the academic support they needed.
The University Learning Center is designed to be the singular, central location on campus students come to for peer tutoring academic support. Now, students come to one office to receive a variety of academic tutoring, such as collaborating with a writing tutor about a paper, meeting weekly with a learning tutor, or dropping in at the lab to talk with a math tutor. Even the Supplemental Instruction program, which provides large group tutoring for particular classes in a variety of spaces across campus, is based out of the ULC office.
Though centrally located in one place, the ULC still relies on the support of, and partnership with, various areas across campus, including the English, Math, Psychology, Creative Writing, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Foreign Languages Departments; the University College, Watson School of Education, and Randall Library; Disability Services and University Testing. These partnerships, and others, ensure that our services remain current and responsive to UNCW academic expectations.
The benefits of being centrally located in one space are high: not only are students able to easily find the support they need, but now these various tutoring services routinely collaborate to further enhance our services. Additionally, the tutor training program has become both more uniform and more rigorous: tutors now engage in a nationally certified training program requiring, among other things, participation in a workshop series, producing a research paper, and reaching a minimum number of tutoring contact hours.
Combining our various peer tutoring services in one space has improved the quality of the academic support UNCW offers students as well as the quality of the pre-professional experience we provide the students who work as peer tutors in the ULC.
Since 2005, when the University Learning Center came into being by combining various peer tutoring services from across campus, we have seen our services grow. More and more students realize the benefits of peer tutoring and they are taking advantage of these services. For instance, this year we served more than 27% of UNCW's students, and each of those students utilized one of our services, on average, more than 5 times this year. We expect to reach more and more students as demand for high quality academic support grows.
The following table shows student usage trends since the ULC opened in 2005:
School Year
|
Students number of students tutored |
Visits number of times tutored |
|---|---|---|
2005 - 2006 |
2,095 |
7,558 |
2006 - 2007 * |
2,475 |
8,766 |
2007 - 2008 ** |
2,882 |
13,952 |
2008 - 2009 |
3,379 |
17,837 |
The following table shows how many tutors have become nationally certified through engaging in our training program:
School Year
|
Certified Tutors number of tutors certified |
|---|---|
2005 - 2006 |
29 |
2006 - 2007 |
28 |
2007 - 2008 |
34 |
2008 - 2009 |
40 |
The following table shows some of the student usage statistics from the current school year:
2008 - 2009
|
Students number of students tutored |
Visits number of times tutored |
|---|---|---|
Female |
2,094 |
11,009 |
Male |
1,285
|
6,828 |
Ethnic Minority |
340 |
2,667 |
International |
21 |
124 |
* During the 2006-2007 school year, Online Writing tutoring support was added to our services.
** During the 2007 - 2008 school year, Math Services moved to the ULC and the SI program was expanded.
