Academic Assistance Program

Mrs. Lottie Scott, Director - (912)344-3284

Welcome to the Academic Assistance Program, also known as Learning Support, located on the second floor of Victor Hall, Armstrong campus, Room 205.

The Academic Assistance Program is designed to serve students who are not prepared for the core curriculum and need additional learning support in English, Mathematics, and Reading.

Two categories of students are served within the program: students who are required to improve in these three subject areas based on their scores on the Computerized Adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System (COMPASS Entrance Exam), and students who elect to take courses within the program to review the three subjects before registering for their core curriculum.

The program offers further academic support to students in conjunction with other programs and services in campus, such as the Writing Center (provided by the Department of Languages, Literature and Philosophy ) and the Math Tutorial Center (provided by the Department of Mathematics ). Academic Assistance is a caring and dedicated program that provides full time counseling and advisement for students.

At this web site you will find the following information:

For Academic Assistance Program (Learning Support) inquiries:
Please call Mrs. Lottie Scott at 912-344-3284, or visit her on the 2nd Floor of Victor Hall, Room 205.

Learning Support Courses

No degree credit is earned in Learning Support courses, but institutional credit is awarded. The numbers to the right of the course name represent lecture hours per week, lab hours per week, and total credit hours. For example, 3-0-3 indicates three lecture hours per week, 0 lab hours per week, and three credit hours.

English

Prerequisite: A score of 0 - 70 on the writing portion of the COMPASS. Sequence of reading and writing assignments. Writing process with emphasis on invention and revision. Editing skills for refining and correcting prose. COMPASS preparation.

Mathematics

Strategies for learning mathematics, improving math study skills, and reducing math anxiety. This course is designed for students who have difficulty in basic mathematics and algebra.

Prerequisite: A score of 0 - 30 on the mathematics portion of the COMPASS. Real numbers, variable expressions, solving equations and inequalities, applications, graphing straight lines, polynomials, factoring, and radical expressions.

Prerequisite: A score of 31 - 39 on the mathematics portion of the COMPASS. Rational expressions, factoring, linear equations and inequalities, quadratic equations, word problems, graphs of linear functions, rational exponents, and radicals.

Reading

Use of biographical material with emphasis on literature, the media, and development of receptive language skills. Focus on literal and critical thinking strategies with guided reading assignments, reader response journals, library research projects, use of electronic resources, summaries, and autobiographies.

Use of highly pervasive discourse of propaganda, alternate positions, with support for and against diverse viewpoints using multiple genres including politics, advertising, multi-cultural writings, speeches, editorials and essays. Acquisition of an intellectual framework and sophisticated level of thinking.

Prerequisite: A score of 0 - 77 on the reading portion of the COMPASS. Reinforcement of basic college reading strategies. Emphasis on comprehension, critical thinking, vocabulary, main ideas, supportive details, organizational and rhetorical patterns, transitions, tone, purpose, fact and opinion, and inferences.

Prerequisite: A score of 0 - 77 on the reading portion of the COMPASS. Reinforcement of basic college reading strategies. Emphasis on comprehension, critical thinking, vocabulary, main ideas, supportive details, organizational and rhetorical patterns, transitions, tone, purpose, fact and opinion, and inferences with a focus on a computer laboratory component.

Resources & Support Services

The Writing Center, administered by the Department of Languages, Literature and Philosophy, is a place where students in all disciplines may come for help with their writing. Tutors offer individual instruction in basic writing skills and provide guidance in the preparation of essays, reports, and research papers. Professors and tutors work one-on-one with students on all aspects of the writing process: researching information, discovering ideas, drafting, revising, and editing. Tutors will not write or proofread papers, but will help students improve their essays. The Writing Center is located on the first floor of Gamble Hall. Please visit them or call for current hours of operation at 344-2878.

The Math Lab, administered by the Department of Mathematics provides service on a first-come, first-served basis to a large number of students enrolled primarily in Learning Support Math or in College Algebra. The center is located on the second floor of Solms Hall and you may call for current hours of operation at 344-2557.

The Graduate/Adult Academic Support Tutorial Center located in Victor Hall, room 227 offers tutoring in a variety of subjects, a quiet place of study, and practice COMPASS exams.

Academic Placement

Applicants to Armstrong who have less than 460 SAT-Verbal (ACT 19) or who are CPC deficient in English must take the reading and English portions of the COMPASS Entrance Assessment. Those students who score less than 430 SAT-Math (ACT 18) or who are CPC deficient in mathematics must take the mathematics portion of the COMPASS Entrance Assessment.

Students who score 71 or above on the English and 78 or above on reading, and 40 or above on the mathematics COMPASS will be regularly admitted. The COMPASS scores determine placement into learning support courses as follows:

NOTE: The COMPASS Entrance Assessment is administered by the Admissions Office, while the COMPASS Exit Assessment is administered by Mrs. Lottie Scott, Director of Academic Assistance Program (Learning Support).

Students required to take Learning Support courses must pass both the course and the COMPASS Exit Assessment, in each particular area (Math, English, or Reading), before they can go on to college credit courses in those areas.

Ask for a Practice COMPASS Assessment! the assessments are available at the Student Success Tutorial Center, #227 Victor Hall, second floor.

Program Guidelines

Advisement & Registration

Every new student is encouraged to take advantage of Navigate Armstrong New Student Orientation Day! On orientation day the student will have the opportunity to be advised and registered by Learning Support advisors. To participate, please contact the Office of Student Affairs at (912) 344-2582 to register for one of the various dates available. New students may also register during Regular Registration. However, Navigate Armstrong day is the preferred choice as it is exclusively for new students.

All students must go through academic advisement with an advisor from their program before they can register. For students that are placed by the COMPASS Assessment into the Academic Assistance Program it is required that they be advised by Mrs. Lottie Scott or a Learning Support faculty before registering into any courses, including non-Learning Support courses. Advisement prior to the dates of registration is recommended for both new and currently enrolled students, thought the student may still be advised on the same day of registration. If you are a returning Learning Support student, please call or visit for an appointment for Advanced Advisement with Mrs. Scott. If you are a new student required to take Learning Support courses, please contact Mrs. Scott for an appointment to be advised, which may be scheduled individually or for the day of new student orientation--Navigate Armstrong. New students must also contact Student Affairs to attend Navigate Armstrong.

Web-Registration is only allowed for students currently attending their last Learning Support courses and who on an exception basis will be able to register on their own online, only after meeting during Advanced Advisement with Mrs. Scott. To make an appointment to be advised during the Advanced Advisement period, please call 344-3284.

Regular Registration is for all Learning Support students. Learning Support students that did not come in during the Pre-Advisement period or during Navigate Armstrong will still be able to do both advisement and Regular Registration.

Important Learning Support Registration Notes:

Students who are required to enroll in Learning Support courses must be advised and registered by the Academic Assistance Program for all their courses at AASU, including college credit courses. To know which credit courses you may take while in a required Learning Support course, please click on the Eligible Credit Courses List for Learning Support Students

Learning Support students cannot register, add, or drop classes on the web. They must visit the Academic Assistance Program office.

Learning Support Student FORMS

Important Dates for Learning Support Students