Support to Help Students Succeed

The academic success and future success of our students is of the utmost importance at Oberlin College and Conservatory. Our faculty, staff, and alumni commit a great deal of time, energy, and resources to help students succeed in their studies and in life.

Today I want to thank Board of Trustees Chair Clyde McGregor ’74 for making a $500,000 commitment to create the Student Support Initiatives Fund at Oberlin College. This new fund will be available to Dean of Students Eric Estes and me to strengthen and expand support services for at-risk students who need additional assistance in order to succeed at Oberlin. It is my hope others will donate to this fund to help it grow and serve not only our current students but generations to come.

There are many additional resources on campus dedicated to helping students achieve academic success. These include the Office of Student Academic Services, which provides academic support, special advising, and related services to all students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Conservatory of Music. The staff also provides services directed to first-generation students, low-income students, and students with disabilities. Academic services coordinated by the Office of Student Academic Services include workshops, credit-bearing courses, tutoring, and individual academic sessions.

Other academic support services include:

• The Center for Learning, Education, and Research in the Sciences’ (CLEAR) evening drop-in hours, where peer tutors lend fellow students a hand with a variety of quantitative skills, including math and software help across the curriculum. The QS Drop-In is located in the Science Library, room N176.
• The Writing Center provides assistance with all stages of the writing process, from the selection of the topic through final editing. The center’s staff can help student writers define an appropriate topic, develop research strategies, organize material, analyze drafts for strengths and weaknesses, revise, and edit. The Writing Center is located in Mudd 101A.

The fine staff and faculty working in academic support are happy to help students succeed in their studies, so don’t hesitate to make use of these resources.