Parkland offers aid to struggling students

Community colleges have been in the news a lot lately – record enrollments and stimulus job training.

But along with all the accolades, students face many personal and academic obstacles. Luckily for the community college students in our area, Parkland College has ways to help alleviate these obstacles. Students who need help in a course – whether with writing papers, honing study skills, or figuring out math and science problems – can find it in the College's Center for Academic Success. The center also pays needed attention to remedial or developmental students whose math, writing, or reading skills are not at college level.

The Center for Academic Success provides students intensive advising, professional tutoring and opportunities to augment their regular studies with tutorials or to take developmental courses at a slower pace with more direct instructor contact. By doing so, Parkland is helping more students complete their developmental credits and advance into college-level coursework, a huge step toward graduating.

The center itself has been in the news. Parkland and the Center for Academic Success were recognized by the Association of Community College Trustees for their achievements. In addition, they were also mentioned in Inside Higher Ed e-magazine, quoting John E. Roueche, director of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas, who praised the center as a strategy that works for students.

THOMAS BENNETT

Gibson City

Parkland College

Board of Trustees