Stephen F. Austin State University

The Academic Assistance and Resource Center at Stephen F. Austin State
University, which offers peer tutoring and supplemental instruction to
students who want to improve their ability to succeed academically, is one
of five recipients of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Star
Award, recognizing exemplary contributions in addressing the state's higher
education challenges.

Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said each of the five programs
furthers the goals of the state's higher education plan, Closing the Gaps by
2015. The plan seeks to narrow the gap in educational achievement between
Texas and other large states, as well as the gap in Texas between minority
students and white students.

"The winners represent the state's most effective efforts for closing the
education gaps that challenge our state," Paredes said. "The Coordinating
Board is proud to recognize the people and the institutions that develop and
implement these programs, as well as the organizations and others who
support them."

In addition to the state award, the Academic Assistance and Resource Center
recently was elevated from advanced certification to distinguished
certification by the National Association for Developmental Education.

"Not only was the SFA program the first learning center in the country to
achieve advanced certification, but it now has the distinct honor of being
the only university learning center to achieve NADE's distinguished
certification," said Jane Neuburger, chair of the NADE certification
council.

Located in the Steen Library at SFA, the center offers assistance through
one-on-one tutoring and small study groups, as well as through supplemental
instruction groups. Supplemental instruction offers students in
traditionally difficult courses the opportunity to work with a student
leader who has previously taken that course.

"Tutors and supplemental instruction leaders are students who have been
selected based on their desire to help, their high degree of academic
success in their tutoring field, faculty recommendations and their overall
demeanor," said Robin Wright, director of the center. "They are trained to
help their clients develop study and problem-solving skills that will ensure
their success at SFA."

Wright said the center initiated in 1999 long-term statistical assessments
of grades, retention and graduation rates for learning-center clients
compared with non-client freshmen. Comparisons also were made among minority
students and students enrolled in developmental classes. Average grades for
center participants were nearly half a grade point higher than for other
students, and six-year graduation rates have risen as much as 23 percent.

"The assessments indicate that receiving tutoring in the AARC makes a
significant positive difference in the academic success and retention of our
clients in all student populations," Wright said. "Those assessments, along
with seven years of careful documentation of actions taken to improve our
services based on the results, were major factors in AARC's selection for
the Star Award and distinguished certification."

Other recipients of the 2006 Star Award are Austin Community College, for
its College Connection program; Tarrant County College District, for its
SureStart Program; the University of Texas at El Paso, for the Chemistry
Peer Leader Program; and YES College Preparatory Schools.

The awards were announced Nov. 6 at a ceremony in Austin. The five winners
were selected from more than 50 applications.