STARTING A LEARNING CENTER

     You know these names, prominent learning center experts in CRLA: Frank Christ, Rick Sheets, Karen Smith. But did you know that they have produced a wonderful monograph of information that we can genuinely and immediately use? Starting a Learning Assistance Center (Clearwater, FL: H & H Publishing, 2000) taps the talents of 13 learning assistance professionals in the format of interviews or conversations.The preface by Mike O' Hear refers to the book as a "primer on matters of importance" and as a "stepping stone." These images are well chosen. For those new to the field, there is indeed plenty of basic start-up information, the first must-read considerations.For those of us already walking the path, there are re-considerations, ideas for new directions and options, and even the comfort of seeing that others have walked before us and, looking back, can guide us effectively.

     The book contains twenty interviews, ranging from 1 to 6 pages each, with suggestions for additional readings at the end of each piece. At first the format of the text troubled me.The chapters seemed disjointed and unconnected.The different writers' voices felt inconsistent.Topics seemed repetitious.But in using the book -- and this is a book to be used and not merely read -- I have come to see the format as a strength. I can drop in on any conversation that interests me at the moment without feeling that I have lost something by not reading everything sequentially. I can check into several sections on a general topic area and review several experts' perspectives on the issues. I can read a chapter quickly: the interview questions help me focus on the range of issues covered and let me find answers.On another trip through the text, I find myself entering the conversation, formulating my own answers to the interview questions as I start to read the published response.

     The first question addressed is simply, "What is a learning assistance center?" Gwyn Enright's well-considered response sets the stage for the rest of the questions.Other chapters focus on organizational structures and physical spaces, technology for administration and instruction, the role of faculty, staffing and management issues, assessing student needs and evaluating learning outcomes, and even the professional development of LAC administrators.Want to know what to say to those who ask why the campus even needs a learning center?Review Elaine Burns' answer before you head to that meeting. Need to generate some ideas for spiffing up your learning center's image and promoting your services? Share Frank Christ's response to Question #19 with your staff. Trying to figure out how your learning center can interact with services to students with disabilities?Yep, there's a section about that, too.

     The first appendix has yet another excellent resource for further discussions and professional growth. Presented are 20 different scenarios for consideration, each described in a brief paragraph.Some are positive (what would you do with an unexpected one-time funding windfall?), while others are less so (how would you respond to a proposed cut in your services or funding?).They are an excellent resource in several different ways.First, these scenarios may give new learning center directors a chance to get an overview of the field, get a feel for the different kinds of challenges that they may face. For an experienced learning center director, these scenarios are certainly reminders of the varied challenges that exist, but they also may provide ideas to be pursued.For example, you may not have been asked to teach a study strategies course in a learning community setting (Scenario #4), but maybe that scenario could spark a new idea for growth, a way to connect your learning center to a new teaching trend on campus.Finally, I think these scenarios could be the basis for some good brainstorming and problem-solving among your staff -- especially those folks who would like to become learning assistance center managers themselves.

     There are simply many different ways to use Starting a Learning Assistance Center as a significant resource in your learning center. I think that the most significant drawback to the monograph is its sparseness.Out of 117 pages, one page is an order form in case you want another copy, and thirteen pages are totally blank.Another five pages have nothing on them except a biography of the person interviewed.(These biographical pieces vary widely in style, content, and length; some are unnecessarily long, with one of them --over 280 words -- longer than the entire Chapter 16, which has less than 200 words in its question responses.) While it makes for a handy reference list, the eight-page Bibliography and Additional Readings (Appendix B) includes fewer than ten resources that have not already appeared at the close of each chapter. In short, there are fewer than 70 pages of interview questions