SASC Academic Program Mission Statement
The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) is committed to supporting the academic, personal, and professional aspirations of all students, with particular care for those from historically underserved communities. Although you’ll never find it listed in the course catalog, conformity is one of the lessons that the university teaches, and we help students learn to play the game successfully. At the same time, we teach our students to continually ask questions and expect clarification, become comfortable with their own methods of learning, participate in cooperative learning, and communicate their own opinions and knowledge. Our courses are rigorous, student-centered, and community-oriented. Students often encounter situations in which they are silenced. Here, we want SASC students to shout, be heard, own their knowledge and experiences, and be confident in the quantitative, rhetorical, and critical thinking skills and strategies needed to thrive at this large and demanding research institution.
Student Leadership in the Classroom
Instructional Assistants (IAs) are undergraduate students in a SASC program who provide peer support within a SASC course. IAs are students who have previously done well in a specific SASC course and are now positioned to help the next cohort of students succeed. IAs have a unique relationship to students and the curriculum, being located someplace between peer and professor.
IAs are a crucial part of our SASC classes. The role of the IA is to provide additional support to faculty and students through smaller skills-based practices that enhance learning and personal growth outcomes. They serve as an additional resource and advocates for students to deepen connections both to the material and the SASC community.
SASC course descriptions SASC course schedule