1. • Effective Practices Include:
– Center for Academic Success (CAS)
– Critical Skills Workshops
– Critical Skills Study Hour Course
– Reading and Writing Center
1

2. Center for Academic Success
Located on the main floor of
•
the Learning Resource
Center
• Serves up to 5,000
students per
semester, logging
around 48,000
student use hours

3. Critical Skills Defined
• Critical Skills are any • The Critical Skills term
specific skills that an is not intended to
individual student may represent broad Basic
need to further develop Skills.
in order to succeed in a
specific course.

4. Critical Skills Workshops
• Critical Skills Workshops offer one-
hour, focused instruction in five subject
areas:
– Study Skills
– Reading
– Writing
– Math
– Computer Skills

5. Critical Skills Workshops
Initial Hurdles
• Funding
• Facilities
• Process for Proof of Attendance

6. Critical Skills Study Hour:
Nuts and Bolts
• 0.5 unit EDUC courses are linked to level-
appropriate subject-specific courses.
– Examples:
• EDUC 10 w/ HIST 8
• EDUC 110 w/ MATH 108
• EDUC 210 w/ LEAD 219
• Areas of skills development needs are
identified via:
– Initial interview with student
– Past progress (transcripts)
– Input from content course instructor

7. Nuts and Bolts, Continued
• Requirements for 0.5 unit credit:
– Three half-hour meetings with CAS faculty
– Eight Critical Skills workshops and homework
assignments
• Course is Credit/No Credit, open entry/open
exit.
• May be repeated three times at each level.

8. Center for Academic Success
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Effective Use of Resources
2. Successful Application of Learning
Strategies
3. Effective Use of Self-Assessment
Strategies
4. Retention and Success

9. Critical Skills Workshop Attendance
• Spring 2003 116
• Fall 2003 271
• Spring 2004 261
• Fall 2004 384
• Spring 2005 1,255
• Fall 2005 1,398
• Spring 2006 1,784
• Fall 2006 2,020
• Spring 2007 2,307
• Fall 2007 2,284
• Spring 2008 3,223

10. Critical Skills Study Hour:
Challenges
• Attendance!
• Logistics of Workshops
– Scheduling
– Staffing
• Outreach
• Chico Campus Support

11. Critical Skills Study Hour Enrollment and
Completion
• Fall 2004: 9 enrolled 4 completed
• Spring 2005: 26 enrolled 14 completed
• Fall 2005: 24 enrolled 19 completed
• Spring 2006: 63 enrolled 51 completed
• Fall 2006: 63 enrolled 51 completed
• Spring 2007: 70 enrolled 53 completed
• Fall 2007: 70 enrolled 45 completed
• Spring 2008: 49 enrolled 37 completed

12. Critical Skills Study Hour:
The Good Stuff
• Increases FTES
• Increases retention and persistence rates.
• Enhances students’ ability to think metacognitively
about learning and studying, increasing
transference of learned skills to future courses (not
as prominent in individualized tutoring).
• Exposes students in need of skills development to
the resources and learning community supported in
CAS.

13. ?
13