Five days a week the Academic Resource Center provides students, parents, faculty and administrators with various different resources to enhance their educational quality and experience as well as their overall experience at the University of Miami.
Seven primary areas fall under the ARC, as it is commonly referred to as: peer tutoring, UMX, “The Ultimate UM Experience” course, academic success counseling, academic resource workshops, accessibility resources, faculty support and resources for parents.
Academically, the ARC, which is conveniently located in the International Lounge on the second floor of the University Center, presents students with peer tutoring services for about 70 different courses in the fields of business, engineering, foreign language, mathematics, science and social science. Students are allowed to get up to two hours of tutoring for each course every week.
“The ARC had a helpful physics review session in which they provided us with an old final exam and went over the problems with us,” junior Marie Cushmore said. “Not only that, but if we had a problem understanding any of the problems, the tutors took the extra time to explain it in a way that would be easier to understand.”
It also assists students by providing them the opportunity to attend various workshops that can help them enhance their skills and better prepare themselves for their academic careers in college.
Some of these 30-45 minute sessions include “Organization and Time Management,” “Getting the Most from Reading Your Textbooks,” “Effective Note-Taking,” “Managing Papers and Projects” and “This is Only a Test: How to Survive Finals.”
In addition, the Academic Resource Center works to simplify a student’s transition from high school to college, while attempting to enhance each student’s tenure at UM. This service, known as UMX, is a one-credit course open to all freshmen, which attempts to blend academics, community building, leadership, learning and networking.
Taught by a UMX professor who serves as a mentor and guide to participating students, the course looks to connect students to the university by allowing them to learn and understand the different programs that the university has to offer.
“The UMX course taught me about self-esteem building methods to help keep me motivated at school,” junior Andrew Gall said. “It also taught us about some of the features the school has to offer.”
For students with documented disabilities, the ARC has the Office of Disability Services, which serves more than 500 students a semester. This service assures that students with documented disabilities are able to participate in and access all the facilities and opportunities that the university has to offer.
“What we find when it comes to the support services that we offer for an institution of our size is that we’re providing comparable services to those institutions who are three or four times our size,” Mykel Mangrum Billups, assistant dean of academic services, said. “I definitely think we’re towards the top of the pack.”
Faculty members are notified of support to assure that they know the ARC is a means that can be accessed by all of their students whether for parking or letters to professors.
Finally, the ARC is also accessible to parents who wish to find out and take advantage of additional methods by which they can enhance their child’s time, education and experience as a Hurricane.
CONTACT INFO
For more information, visit www.umarc.miami.edu or call 304-284-2800.
Hours of operation
Monday, 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.