1974-1975
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director
- Karen Pelz started working as the director of the RSSC in November, 1974.
She had a strong background in education and taught at a junior college prior
to coming to Dartmouth. Pelz devoted her energy to turning the RSSC into a
viable student service. When she arrived, there was only a space and
out-of-date materials awaiting her. She spent much of her time winter and
spring terms, 1975, finding out what students wanted and developing
a program. Pelz frequently traveled to other colleges and universities to
see how their academic support programs functioned.
- Initial offerings consisted of workshops, one-on-one academic counseling,
and administration of the Tutor Clearinghouse, which the RSSC
"inherited" from the Freshman Office. She taught three workshops each
term entitled Study Skills, Vocabulary Skills and Reading for Speed and
Comprehension. The Study Skills and Reading workshops were the most popular,
with about twenty students enrolled in each. These workshops met biweekly for
three to four weeks. Pelz also gave hour-long workshops on note taking and
exam-preparation techniques. She recorded her lectures on cassettes and made
handouts for students who missed a workshop.
- Between 20 and 30 students participated in the Tutor Clearinghouse each
term. The majority of students requested tutors for math, biology, and
chemistry. Although recruiting tutors was not an issue, lack of funds was a
major point of contention. There was a problem as to who would pay for tutors:
the Financial Aid Office or the RSSC.
- In addition, Pelz taught one section of English 2.
1975-1976
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director
- The following year continued in a similar fashion. Pelz continued to offer
study and reading skills workshops which, according to her reports, were
effective and valuable to the students. She spent much of her time counseling
individuals on reading assignments, time management, and preparing term
papers.
1976-1977
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director
David Powlinson, Administrative Assistant (half-time)
- The RSSC experienced expansion and change in 1976. As the reputation of the
Tutor Clearinghouse spread, the number of participants rose. During the winter
term of 1976, 41 students used the Clearinghouse and by fall term, the number
had increased to 66. In addition, the RSSC purchased a used typewriter and
instruction books for students to use. The RSSC moved from the third to second
floor of College Hall between winter and spring terms due to insufficient space
on the third floor. David Powlinson was hired as a half-time assistant on
October 1. Pelz continued to split her time between directing the RSSC and
teaching English 2 for the English department. Pelz wrote a proposal, dated
October 20, for a Credit/No Credit course in reading and study skills. The
course would have cost $11,000 to implement. The College turned it down.
- On March 3, 1977, Dartmouth College accepted a proposal to replace the
summer Bridge Program with the Intensive Academic Support Program (IAS),
renamed Integrative Academic Support in the 1990's. Unlike the Bridge Program,
the IAS was a year-long support program for academically disadvantaged
students. The RSSC director served on the IAS Steering Committee. Thus the
College phased out the Bridge Program, relying upon three different
academic support resources: the Reading and Study Skills Center, the Intensive
Academic Support Program, and the Composition Center.
- As in previous years, the RSSC offered three- and four-week workshops. Pelz
and Powlinson worked individually with students who needed help with foreign
languages and/or study skills. They also focused their energies on creating two
study skills manuals in mathematics and foreign languages. Students who had
performed well in related courses wrote the majority of the manuals, providing
useful tips on how they studied effectively.
- Pelz and the Financial Aid Office agreed on the payment of tutors for
the Tutor Clearinghouse. The Financial Aid Office paid 75% of the cost for
tutees on financial aid, while the remaining 25% was billed to the student's
college account. There was some dissatisfaction with this system, in that
bookkeeping and paperwork was burdensome.
1977-1978
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director (in absentia)
Elizabeth Baer, Acting Director
Elinor Horne, Assistant Director (half-time)
- The 1977-78 academic year saw a turnover in staff at the RSSC. Elizabeth
Baer was hired as Assistant Director on February 1, 1978, to replace David
Powlinson. In early May, Pelz won a National Endowment for the Humanities grant
to study the teaching of writing and to finish her dissertation at the
University of Iowa. This grant and subsequent faculty responsibilities at
Dartmouth took her away from the Center for two-and-a-half years. Baer served
as the Acting Director in her absence, and Elinor Horne, who taught with the
IAS Program, worked as a part-time Assistant Director.
- At the beginning of each term, the RSSC offered two three-week workshops in
reading and two in study skills. In addition to the programs geared toward
Dartmouth students, the Center expanded its services and ran a study skills
workshop for a small group of nurses from the Mary Hitchcock School of Nursing
as well as a combined section of study skills/effective reading for the high
school students at the ABC House.
- The Tutor Clearinghouse served between 60 and 80 tutees each term during
1977-78. Approximately half of the tutees were on financial aid. The College
changed its policy and covered the full cost of tutoring for students on
financial aid. A poll of tutor effectiveness was conducted for the first time
with very favorable responses. Math, chemistry, physics and French were the
most requested subject areas.
- As word of the Center spread, the number of students coming in for
individual academic counseling increased dramatically. The greatest surge in
demand occurred at obvious "panic points" in the term (beginning,
mid-term, finals), but there was also a fairly steady stream throughout the
term. While Elizabeth Baer dealt with administrative work and met privately
with students, Elinor Horne concentrated on international students because of
her linguistics background. Deans and faculty members referred students often,
and most came in for assistance on papers or in reading. Over 50% of these
students returned for a second visit.
- Baer noted that space had become a problem. There was not enough office
space for her or Horne, and the area lacked single study spaces for students.
She also acknowledged that there was confusion as to the duties of the Reading
and Study Skills Center vis à vis the responsibilities of the Composition
Center.
1978-1979
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director (in absentia)
Elizabeth Baer, Acting Director
Elinor Horne, Assistant Director (full-time)
- Baer and Horne continued to oversee the operations of the Center in the
academic year of 1978 to 1979. In order to save money, the secretarial position
was divided into a part-time position and a work-study position. However, this
proved problematic, since Baer spent much of her time hiring and training new
staff members. As an alternative to the other arrangement, the secretarial
position became full-time in the fall (when the workload was the greatest), and
part-time during the rest of the year. There was a work-study student every
term but fall.
- Academic counseling changed in 1978-79 in that Baer and Horne began to see
students on a long-term basis. Dick's House, the Freshman Office and the
International Student's Office referred many students to the Center. Overall,
103 students received academic counseling, of which 60% were freshmen.
- As in previous years, the Tutor Clearinghouse flourished. A total of 163
students received tutoring that year; fall term was the heaviest in demand. The
College paid for up to five hours of tutoring for financial-aid students per
week. Non-financial-aid students paid for tutoring directly. The RSSC made the
"Videotape on Tutoring," which all prospective tutors were required
to see. Math and chemistry were again the most frequently requested subject
areas.
- Although services had remained the same, the number of students seen
decreased slightly from 103 to 91. The drop-in visits also decreased from 410
to 379. The percentage of freshmen seen remained at 60.
1979-1980
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director (in absentia)
Elizabeth Baer, Acting Director
Elinor Horne, Assistant Director (full-time)
- Baer stated in the 1979-80 year-end report: "Reading and Study Skills
thus continues to concentrate its efforts where the demand is the greatest:
with the freshman class. As might be suspected, we work with students whose
high school career has not adequately prepared them for college-level work.
They simply don't have the skills--writing, note taking, studying for
exams--that are suddenly demanded of them here. But a surprising number of
students from excellent public and private schools come in who did well in high
school without doing much studying. They, too, need to develop study skills
quickly, not because of inadequate preparation but because they have never
really been academically challenged before."
- During the fall term, the RSSC offered ten workshops: four in study skills,
four in reading, and two in vocabulary. Baer made a 90-minute videotape
simulating an actual study skills workshop, complete with a packet of handouts.
She made the tape available to the students at the OISER Media Center.
Approximately five students per term viewed the tape, but soon that number
dwindled to none.
- The Tutor Clearinghouse provided tutors to 126 students over the four
terms. Because of a large over-expenditure in the budget during spring term,
free tutoring to financial-aid students was cut from five to three hours per
week.
- Much discussion and debate over consolidating the operations of the
Composition Center and the RSSC took place. The RSSC wished to consolidate, but
the English Department opposed the idea largely because the English department
was unwilling to forego its control of budget and staffing. The lack of
appropriate space for the merger also effectively stalled and later killed the
plans.
1980-1981
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director
Elinor Horne, Assistant Director (full-time)
- After a two-and-a-half year absence, Karen Pelz returned as Director of the
Reading and Study Skills Center during the summer of 1981. While Pelz was away,
Baer sought to be recognized as the permanent Director instead of the Acting
Director of the RSSC. As a result of this controversy, Elizabeth Baer
left the College before Pelz returned, and there was a severe lack of
continuity within the Center. No one filed a year-end report and no statistics
are available for the 1980-81 academic year.
1981-1982
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Karen Pelz, Director
Elinor Horne, Assistant Director (full-time)
Nancy Pompian, Director, Tutor Clearinghouse
Diane Ingalls '84, Student Assistant (part-time)
- Things settled down again in 1981 and 1982. Pelz and Horne taught full-time
in the English Department and split the counseling duties at the RSSC. They
taught six workshops each term: two in reading, two in study skills, one in
vocabulary development, and one in note-taking. During this year, Pelz and
Horne reworked the workshop material and gave joint presentations. In the
spring term, they tried giving workshops in the dormitories (not called
residence halls at this point). Although not well-attended, the students who
did show up considered the workshops helpful.
- Between one-half and one-third of the 240 students who came in for academic
advising needed help on some aspect of writing a paper: starting, researching,
organizing, developing, documenting, or conquering writer's block. Pelz rewrote
and illustrated the "Math Study Skills" booklet during the
spring.
- The Tutor Clearinghouse served 208 students in 1981-82, and the only
reported problem was under-budgeting.
1982-1983
Reading & Study Skills Center Staff
Elinor Horne, Acting Director
Barbara Kreiger, Academic Counselor
Nancy Pompian, Director, Tutor Clearinghouse
Judy Bell '84, Student Assistant (part-time)
- 1982 and 1983 was again a transitional year for the RSSC. Karen Pelz left
Dartmouth during the summer of 1982, Elinor Horne stepped in as Acting
Director, and Barbara Kreiger was appointed Academic Counselor for nine months
(July 1, 1982 to March 31, 1983). Elinor Horne served as the Acting Director
until July of 1983.
- A total of 210 students visited the Center for academic help, with writing
topping the list of services requested. Students also requested help with
Horne's specialty, English as a Second Language.
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