By Savannah Lewis
This semester, the Tutoring and Academic Success Center (TASC) changed their hours and began offering a new program for all Cleveland State University students to utilize.
TASC is now open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. These are also the same hours as the Writing Center and the Math Learning Lab.
“These new hours are to provide additional support for students who couldn’t get to us during our regular hours,” Chrissy Knapke, director of TASC, said.
Knapke stated that when looking at the student satisfaction surveys, one of the main complaints from students was how short the hours were. She also explained that many nontraditional students who may have to work earlier in the day were not getting the help they needed, as well as athletes on campus who may have practice during those hours.
“We were sending our tutors last semester over to the athletic department after we closed so we could help some of the students out,” Knapke explained.
She hopes that with these longer hours, they will be able to reach more students.
Along with the new hours, TASC is also adding Masterkeys, a new drop-in software assistance program to help students learn basic information for different computer programs.
This program will be available starting Feb. 4. The hours will be Monday and Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The computer programs and topics they will be teaching include Microsoft Office, presentation software, basic issues or questions regarding blackboard, and saving, sending and transferring files.
This program is the brainchild of Ashleigh Oliver, now the Graduate Software Assistant Leader at TASC, who saw a need for this program after working in the Writing Center. She noticed that some students were having difficulty with using these software programs and needed help during time that was allotted for writing. She felt students were getting a disservice and wanted to give them an appropriate place to get the information they need.
“Sometimes, being able to physically sit through it with somebody helps,” Oliver explained.
Knapke wanted to remind everyone that this is a quick stop for basic needs regarding this software. If there are more advanced technical issues, they suggest going to the eLearning Center for advice.
Knapke hopes that these new changes will help students utilize TASC more and get the help they need to do their best in college.