Institute/Session Summary:

This purpose of this presentation is to examine the preliminary results of a national survey that gathered data in an effort to determine benchmark statistics regarding Learning Center and Tutorial Service usage at colleges and universities across the country. The objective for conducting the survey was to provide professionals in the field with practical comparative information to utilize not only in annual administrative reports, but also to garner instituional support and funding. 
    

Laurie Hazard and Karin Winnard of Bryant University collected data from seventy-seven institutions during the 2006-2007 academic year. Participating institutions ranged from community colleges to large public universities. The sample included respondents from a wide geographical span including colleges and universities located in states such as California, New Mexico, Illinois, Arkansas, Florida, Rhode Island, and Minnesota.
    

Session attendees will be provided with a sample survey, preliminary data and statistics, and suggestions on how to utilize the information for program evaluation and assessment.  The primary focus of the session will be a discussion regarding the rewards and challenges of conducting research, and the complexities of determining benchmark data in our field.

Presenter1 Name: Laurie Hazard
Presenter1 Institution: Bryant University
Presenter1 Bio: Laurie holds an Ed.M. in Counseling and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University. She has been the Director of the Academic Center for Excellence and Writing Center at Bryant University for the last eight years. Laurie has been teaching and designing curricula for first-year experience and study skills courses for the last fifteen years. Her area of expertise is the personality traits and attitudes of college students that influence academic achievement and mediate the utilization of newly learned study strategies. Laurie is a New England Peer Tutor Association Board member and has hosted their Annual Forum at her institution. She has presented at national conferences such as the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, the Conference on College Composition and, and the College Reading and Learning Association. Laurie's experience with academic support began as a graduate student at Boston University and later as a reading and writing specialist in an innovative, team structured learning assistance program at Boston University. For two years, Laurie served as the Director of Academic Support Services at Becker College, a department which housed advising services for at-risk students, learning assistance programs, and tutoring services. Laurie has taught courses in college reading and study skills, liberal arts seminars, psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, and social psychology.

Laurie co-authored a text entitled Foundations for Learning designed for study skills and first-year experience courses. Laurie has done extensive work writing about and assessing the effectiveness of learning assistance programs and FYE courses. She has been a Guest Editorial Board member for the Learning Assistance Review. Publications by Laurie and her co-author include: Exploring the Evidence, Volume III: Reporting Outcomes of First-Year Seminars, a monograph published by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and “What Does It Mean to be ‘College-Ready’?”, an article which appears in Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education.

Laurie was recently selected by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition as a top ten Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate.