Center for Academic Achievement
The Center for Academic Achievement (known as The Center or CAA) believes that students should study smarter, not harder. That’s why The Center helps students in the areas of Academic Advising, Tutoring, Counseling, Academic Coaching and Disability Services. The CAA is also the place where students can register and sign up for various exams and tests prior to starting the University or a professional program. For detailed information on any of the areas the Center specializes in or to reserve a spot for a test, please call 407-303-7747 , ext. 110-6413.
Tutoring
The CAA offers free group and individual tutoring for general education and nursing courses. In order to secure a spot for tutoring, students need to sign up. This is important because the majority of CAA tutors are also students, so if tutors don’t have anyone signed up for that day, they will cancel their session so they can prepare for their own classes.
General Education Tutoring
General Education students can sign up in the General Education Tutoring Center on the second floor of the Campus Center Building. Tutors act as a support for professors, providing extra review and practice for the course material previously taught. Tutors are trained to assist in learning strategies that will help in the understanding and retention of class materials. Each trimester, the tutors’ schedules are posted in the Tutoring Center for students to use as sign-up sheets. Tutoring sessions are scheduled in one-hour blocks of time. Students are allotted up to two hours of tutoring per class, per week. Tutoring sessions can also be scheduled for additional help in preparing for the Test of Essential Academic Skills V (TEAS), the admission requirement for the nursing program.
Both distance and on-campus students can receive tutoring help by accessing Smarthinking through their ANGEL homepage. Smarthinking offers online help with most math, science, and English courses. When it comes to English help, students can visit ADU’s Writing Center located on the ground floor of the Nursing Building or utilize the online English tutors via Smarthinking. It is important to remember that Smarthinking tutors will not correct a paper, but they will help students understand what types of errors were made and work with students to help correct them. Students who submit a paper using Smarthinking will receive it back within two school days.
Nursing Tutoring
Nursing students have access to tutoring through small-groups and Smarthinking.
Most of the tutoring sessions are held in the Learning Co-Op classroom, located on the ground floor of the Nursing Building, and students are expected to sign up for sessions at the Co-Op front desk. Tutoring session times, dates, and places are communicated via the individual ANGEL courses and posted in the Learning Co-Op. Tutoring is offered Monday through Friday on Campus. Online tutoring is always available through Smarthinking. Students should also remember to check Smarthinking protocol and instructions for nursing tutoring availability.
Testing
The CAA offers a variety of tests that students may need. These tests are provided by appointment only and are listed below. For more information and to register for these tests, please call 407-303-7747, ext 110-6413.
Compass Placement Exams for both math and English are designed to help a student succeed academically and to assist with the academic advising process. Students must schedule the math or the English Compass Placement exams with the CAA. Students should note that placement exams can only be taken once.
American College Test (ACT) is an application requirement unless the student has 24 or more college credits from a regionally accredited school. The ACT covers four areas: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning. Adventist University of Health Sciences is a Residual Testing Center, meaning the scores stay at the University and will not be sent anywhere. Students should remember that the dates for this exam are posted per trimester in the CAA, and the exam is offered once a month. If a student is applying to get into a professional program, it is the responsibility of the student to take note of professional program deadlines and take the ACT in adequate time.
The Test of Essential Academic Skills V (TEAS) is an admission application requirement for the Nursing program. The TEAS measures basic essential skills in the areas of reading, mathematics, science, and English and language usage.
College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) are examinations that are computerized comprehensive assessments that demonstrate college-level achievement in specific content areas. By achieving a passing American Council on Education (ACE) score of 50 or higher, students will receive college credit for the equivalent Adventist University course. A list of available tests that are offered can be found in the CAA, as well as on the CAA website. In addition, the University bookstore sells study guides to help students prepare for the CLEP. Students should note that CLEP exams cannot be repeated if failed.
Counseling
Counseling assists students in resolving personal difficulties and in acquiring the necessary skills and resources to both succeed in the University environment and pursue productive and satisfying lives. Counseling can help clarify concerns, gain insight into self and others, and teach new ways to most effectively cope and/or resolve issues. Counseling can off er emotional support, new perspectives, and help in considering possible solutions. Other reasons to see a counselor may include academic, career direction/concerns, self-esteem issues, relationship issues, grief and loss, family, communication, stress management, anger management, and physical, sexual, or substance abuse. Counseling is free to all students, and students are encouraged to seek counseling assistance proactively. For appointments, please call 407-303-7747, ext. 110-6074 or email counseling@employee.adu.edu.
Online counseling (e-Therapy) is available to both on-campus and distance students. Counseling is offered via email and real-time chat. For more information or to set up an appointment, please send an email to counseling@employee.adu.edu. Please keep in mind that online counseling is not appropriate for all kinds of problems; students should speak to the counselor to determine if e-Therapy would be a good fit.
Disability Services
The faculty and staff of Adventist University of Health Sciences are dedicated to an equitable and exemplary education for all of its students. They believe that equal education is not limited to a physically accessible campus for its students. It also strives to provide necessary accommodations to those students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who succeed at ADU demonstrate self-reliance and are able to advocate for their needs and anticipate challenges in a new environment, as well as address those needs well in advance.
Once you have been accepted to the university you can register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in the Center for Academic Achievement (CAA). To be eligible for disability-related services, students must have a documented disability as defined by the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). A person with a disability is an individual with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Accommodations are decided on a case-by-case basis, using the documentation submitted. All accommodation requests may not be granted. Programs will not be fundamentally altered to accommodate a student.
If a student requests accommodation, the student must provide the OSD the requested current, official documentation related to his or her disability along with the Voluntary Declaration of Disability Form. That documentation will be used to determine the type and extent of accommodation that is most reasonable and effective for that student. The review process typically can take up to ten business days. In particularly busy times, such as the start of a new trimester, this process may take longer. You will be notified by email once documentation has been reviewed.
If criteria have been met and accommodations are granted, the student must submit a Trimester Accommodation Request Form. The student’s instructors will be notified of the student’s needs once the student has completed the Release of Information Form (available in the CAA). The instructor will receive an Academic Accommodation letter explaining the accommodations necessary for that student.
For each subsequent trimester, it is the student’s responsibility to complete the Trimester Accommodations Request Form and submit it to the OSD. It may take seven or more business days to notify instructors. Forms should be submitted 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the trimester. This recommendation will ensure timely implementation of accommodations, but accommodation requests will be accepted throughout the trimester.
At any time, students may request in writing to discontinue any information-sharing related to their disability. Students may request to discontinue their accommodations at any time. Questions or concerns should be brought to the attention of the OSD.
Please note that school plans, such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plans, are not sufficient documentation to establish the rationale for accommodations in a university setting. Original documents are not necessary—a copy or fax of the material is sufficient. If documentation is incomplete or otherwise inadequate to determine the disability and/or reasonable accommodations, the OSD will require additional documentation. Documentation costs are to be paid by the student.
If you would like ODS to be able to discuss your disability or accommodations with persons or agencies outside of ADU (including your parents if you are over the age of 18), you must complete a Release of Information Form, available in the CAA.
Denied accommodation requests may be appealed in writing by a student to the Center for Academic Achievement Director. Such appeals must be filed within ten calendar days of the receipt of the denial of accommodation request.
For more information regarding Academic Accommodations, please contact Betty Varghese at 407-303-7643
Academic Advising
All new incoming, non-professional program students will be assigned an Academic Advisor located in the CAA. The Advisor helps students through the registration process as well as developing a course schedule that will enable students to continue working towards entrance into a professional program.
Academic Success Program
Sometimes the skills that bring a person to a place aren’t the same skills that keep him or her there. For instance, if a student enters Adventist University of Health Sciences and was an A student before, those same study habits and routines may not work as well in a new setting. If students would like to be proactive in their success at the University, they can make an appointment to work with an individual from the Academic Success program, located in the Learning Co-Op. After meeting and talking with someone, a customized, individual study plan will be created to help the student achieve the success he or she envisions.
Philosophy of Healthcare
The Philosophy of Healthcare (POH) class is designed to help shape the lens with which a student will come to view healthcare. It is the goal of this class to help students understand that working in healthcare is more than just a job, that in different ways they are indeed the hands and feet of God helping patients through difficult times, and that they will continue to sharpen and hone their critical thinking and communication skills. The class is intended to encourage students to understand how their faith, outlook, assumptions, and their own life story can contribute to or impede the care they give.
Each student taking POH will meet with an Academic Coach for 30 minutes every other week for a total of 6 sessions during the term they are taking POH. These meetings will help to further unpack class discussions and readings, and develop an individualized academic success plan for the student. To do this, the Coaches utilize various assessments and learning-style inventories when working with each student.
The Learning Co-Op
The Learning Co-Op is located on the ground floor of the Nursing Building. Full of great resources, it helps a student’s projects and grades reach the next level. In the Co-Op, a student can find the latest and greatest Macs and PCs, 2 scanners (one capable of scanning larger format paper), a large format inkjet printer, a sound booth, microphones, and Pro Tools system. The Co-Op is a place to be creative, a place where a student can create multimedia projects and presentations and burn them to a CD, DVD, copy them to an external hard drive or thumb drive, and even print posters! To find out how to use some of this equipment, students can visit the Co-Op or go online to the CAA website and under the Center for Academic Achievement page, click on Learning Co-Op.
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