Interests were piqued when, seemingly overnight, signs outside of VSU’s Student Success Center changed to reflect a new name. The true story behind it lie in the new changes to propel student success forward.

Dr. Chere Peguesse, the director of the, now, Academic Support Center, made the decision to change the name of the center simply to decrease confusion.

After Dr. Rodney Carr was hired as the vice president of Student Success, students began calling him to set up tutoring sessions which was incorrect.

Peguesse said she always wanted the name to be the Academic Support Center because she liked the acronym that it made: ASC.

“You need help, just ‘ASC,’” Peguesse said.

The name change isn’t the only new thing coming to the center. New programs, new advisers and new locations are in the future, too.

The ASC is currently piloting two 24/7 online-tutoring companies, Thinking Storm and Upswing. It is expected that one of the two companies will be incorporated by the end of the semester.

These programs will have tutors available in writing, math, French, Spanish and accounting for all students to use. The online availability will make tutoring more accessible to students with rigorous weekly schedules as well as online students.

“I talked to a couple of SGA representatives, and their schedules are so packed,” Peguesse said. “They’re like ‘Yeah, I do everything on Sunday, and I do it until two o’clock in the morning.’”

According to Peguesse, almost 85 percent of the tutors have their master’s degree or higher and have achieved a bachelor’s degree in the subject that they’re tutoring in.

“Students who come to tutoring have higher course grades, and their retention rate goes up from 70 percent to 84 percent,” Peguesse said.

This online-tutoring will be free to any student attending VSU.

Carr is also working on hiring professional advisers rather than using faculty advisers. According to Peguesse, students will have one adviser to work with throughout all four years, while faculty advisers will only work as mentors.

Lastly, the ASC is moving to the library over the summer in accordance with the remodeling of VSU’s campus.

The Academic Support Center and the offices of Student Success are working to bring forth changes in academic achievement and to VSU overall.

Written by Ladaezjah Warrens, Staff Writer. Photo courtesy of Valdosta State University.

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