With final exams coming up for the fall 2023 trimester, it’s important to be on top of your schoolwork. If students struggle with their work, Union offers a variety of academic supports on campus, including academic help centers, supplemental instructors (SIs), and academic coaching.
A variety of academic departments host academic help centers, which are places where students can go for help with homework, understanding concepts, and more. The centers are run by students who have previously done well in a department’s courses. These help centers are generally open from Sunday through Thursday each week and students can walk into them without making an appointment.
Some popular courses have supplemental instructors (SIs), where students can have study time for courses that students have particularly struggled in. It is led by a student who took the course previously and did well. It differs from the academic help centers because the centers serve a variety of courses, while SIs serve specific courses. This term, there are SIs for BIO103, BIO104, BIO205, BIO206, CHM101, MER231, and PSY100. Students are not required to attend SI sessions, but it can be helpful to do so.
“The purpose of SI sessions is to offer review sessions that reinforce the material learned in class,” Clay said. “SI sessions are a great opportunity to ask questions and get more clarification!”
In addition, Union has a writing center where students can receive feedback on essays they write for any department. Students have to make an appointment in order to utilize the writing center, which can be accessed at www.union.edu/writing-programs/writing-center. The sessions are led by students who give feedback on content, grammar, and structure of essays. The writing center will have a special schedule for final exam season, which will be shared with the campus community when it is available to take registrations.
In general, if a student has done poorly in a class, “I always recommend that students review their performance with their professor. Together, they can identify the areas that the student should focus on. Maintaining open communication with Professors is very important and can make the difference between a passing and failing grade.” Clay recommends.
If students are struggling with multiple courses, the office of student success offers academic coaching to teach students skills about time management, exam preparation, note taking, and more. Students can make an appointment online or by emailing Lesly Clay, the Director of Student Success, at [email protected].
In addition, students can always attend their professors’ office hours. Professors are willing to answer homework questions, talk about concepts, and more. Information about this can be found on each class’s Nexus page.
“They are a great resource for students and another opportunity to receive support in their courses,” Clay said about office hours.
Final exams for the fall 2023 trimester begin on November 16 and end on November 21, 2023. Students can locate the final exam schedule on https://www.union.edu/registrar/course-exam-schedules. The entire staff of the Concordiensis wishes the campus community good luck on their exams.
