A Tradition of Service to UT Students

The Learning Center at The University of Texas has a long and proud tradition of service to UT students and the greater academic community. From its roots as a part of the University's historic effort to meet the needs of GIs returning after World War II, the UT Learning Center has grown into a vital component of the school's present-day commitment to student body diversity and to individual academic success.

And the center continues to grow...

See the proposed floorplan of the Learning Center

History of the UT Learning Center

The Center's history is one that, in large measure, mirrors the progression of higher education over the last half century; the changing nature of who we serve and what they must learn has continually compelled us to re-visit our mission and adapt our services. For the first twenty-five years of its operation, the Learning Center remained a resource chiefly for counseling and for the improvement of reading, writing, and learning skills, offering short courses and self-help materials in speed reading, reading comprehension, and study skills. By the mid 1970's, however, the Center had begun to evolve and diversify: first acquiring tutorial services from the Office of the Dean of Students and then developing a math program. Both of these additions have proven, through time, to be among the most requested - and the most needed - of our services. At the same time, the leadership of the Center also began to recognize the value of outreach, not only to promote existing materials and services, but also to ascertain if individual departments had specific needs that we could address, and ultimately to create relationships with some of those departments. Resources and staff time were allocated for the first time to increase campus-wide awareness of the Center and what it could offer. As a result of that effort, the UT Learning Center today enjoys collegial working relationships with a host of University agencies and organizations. Throughout the decade of the 1970s, decisions were made and actions were taken that laid the foundation for the current UT Learning Center.

While the late 1970s was a period of organizational construction, the early 1980s were marked by organizational retrenchment. Along with all of higher education, the Learning Center was forced to cut-back and make-do. However, even in these austere times, the Center developed a technology component, and in 1986, piloted a Supplemental Instruction program with the College of Engineering. So successful was the endeavor and so great the client demand for it that, even with budgetary constraints, the Center was able to steadily fund Supplemental Instruction and nurture its development. By 1990, the Learning Center was conducting Supplemental Instruction for 25 classes. Here again, decisions made by the Center's leadership have proven over time to be sound; today, Supplemental Instruction is an integral part of the academic life of The University, providing instruction for more than 5,000 students each year.

The 1989 academic year may now, in retrospect, be seen as a watershed year in Texas higher education as well as in the evolution of the UT Learning Center. That fall, the state-mandated Texas Academic Skills Program was implemented, a standardized test designed to measure readiness in basic skills of people seeking entry to college. To meet the anticipated need of students seeking required remediation, the Center created non-credit developmental courses in reading, writing, and mathematics, and was given a large space on the third floor of Jester for a new lab to accommodate developmental students. This year marked the beginning of a period of expansion - in mission, in space, and in personnel - that would continue throughout the ensuing decade.

The summer of 1993 witnessed the changing of the guard at the Center. A new Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator were appointed following the retirement of the longtime leader and several key staff members. That, in confluence with the nascent and still evolving University-wide emphasis on recruitment and retention, prompted a period of transition for the Center as well. New positions were created; new personnel - with new ideas - were hired. More emphasis and resources were directed to the math/science component, making it a full and equal partner to the venerable reading, writing, and study skills curricula. Indeed, before the end of the decade, the math program would supersede the traditional triad in terms of the number of clients served.

Beginning in 1994, the Center received funding from Student Services fees, and at the same time, embarked on an expansion of its services and clientele. The tutoring program from the Office of the Dean of Students merged with the Center's Tutorial Assistance Program, bringing additional funding for tutoring. Later, the Learning Center initiated free tutoring for students qualifying under financial assistance guidelines. Additional funding also allowed further development of the SI program.

Finally, the 1990's saw the UT Learning Center embrace technology and begin to use it effectively. A website was constructed as part of a greater publicity effort; a new intake system was designed to allow tutor and client to both schedule and manage their tutoring appointments. This integration and use of technology was a trend that would continue rapidly into the next decade.

In summer of 2000, the Center once again changed leadership and, as a result of staff turnover, three new learning assistance professionals joined the staff. During the summer of 2001, the Learning Center reorganized. The goals of the reorganization were twofold: to redress problems inherent in the existing organizational structure and to create a more future-oriented organizational structure that would allow the agency to fulfill its mission within the Division of Student Affairs more effectively. The new organizational structure was designed to provide program directors more autonomy and budgetary authority within their respective areas. A modest professional development program included a series of staff-led presentations on readings and topics relevant to the field of learning assistance. The Center also initiated a campus-wide training program, the UT Student Educators' Conference, an event that has grown each year; 370 student educators and 55 presenters participated in the 2005 conference. Since 2002, the Learning Center staff has coordinated the event.

In subsequent years, the Learning Center also expanded its services to students by adding a mentoring program, writing consultation for graduate students, and a teaching teams program. In 2002, the Center piloted its Peer Academic Coaching Program, the goals of which are two-fold: to help students expand their repertoire of effective study strategies and to provide opportunities for meaningful personal connection in the university setting. Established in fall 2003, the Graduate Student Writing Service offered all UT graduate students individualized consultations in all disciplines and at all levels. The program is designed to help graduate students become independent, confident writers. Finally, in 2004, the UT Teaching Teams Program, modeled after the University of Arizona's program, began as a collaboration of faculty and staff who wanted to mitigate the negative influence of large, passive classes on learning. The model's fundamental unit is the teaching team, which consists of a faculty instructor, teaching assistants, and peer assistants (preceptors).

The staff of the UT Learning Center has endeavored to conceptualize its place within the campus community and within the field of learning assistance. Toward that end, a new mission statement was created: To empower students in their pursuit of lifelong learning. Additionally, the staff created the Center's strategic themes:

1. We allocate funds and resources responsibly and seek opportunities to expand revenue bases.
2. We ensure that our customers in the UT community and beyond are consistently satisfied with our services.
3. We establish internal processes that enhance communication and productivity.
4. We acquire the knowledge and skills essential to leadership in the field of learning assistance.

The staff also crafted a new vision statement: Create lasting partnerships within the UT community to enhance the student academic experience. The new vision provided the impetus for the Center's new partnership with the College of Natural Sciences Calculus Readiness and Academic Communities programs.

The year 2005 began with an auspicious event - the UT Learning Center became the home of the Winter Institute for Learning Assistance Professionals. The Winter Institute is a weeklong, intensive program of presentations and workshops, small group mentoring, Special Interest Group meetings, and participant dialogue on a theme relating to some aspect of learning assistance. The Institutes, based on a teaching/learning philosophy created by Frank Christ, provide participants with optimal learning experiences that can be translated into practical actions upon their return to their respective institutions. In this way, the Learning Center hopes to continue to engender professional partnerships and to make significant contributions to the field.

Starting at the beginning of the 2006 academic year, the UT Learning Center remodeled its tutoring facility to provide an environment more conducive to learning. The new David J. Drum Tutoring Center now features a mezzanine level for private one-to-one tutoring sessions and a space below for drop-in group tutoring. None of this would have been possible without the generosity and foresight of Dr. David Drum for whom the tutoring center is named and to whom it is dedicated.

Throughout its 56 year history, the UT Learning Center has played an important role on campus. All together, UT Learning Center staff (professional and student staffs combined) engaged in more than 90,000 instructional interactions during the 2004-2005 academic year, impacting more than 16,000 individuals in the campus community. Looking toward the future, the UT Learning Center will continue its tradition of enhancing the life and learning of UT students.