The UTD Mercury

The Multicultural Center and the Learning Resource Center will be switching places during winter break.

The Learning Resource Center contains math and writing labs as well as test administration resources. The LRC will move to the Conference Center Room 1.126 by the beginning of next semester in order to be closer to the Student Success Center.

Both the Student Success Center and the Learning Resource Center are now part of the GEMS (Gateways to Excellence in Math & Science) program. GEMS was started this year as part of the University's Quality Enhancement Plan (required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for accreditation) and is designed to help students succeed in science, technology, engineering and math courses.

"(The goal is) mastery and success for any student at any level in any area, from a student who's fallen behind or feels ill-prepared to a student who is absolutely excelling and wants to be an A-student instead of a B-student," said Associate Provost Thom Chesney.

This semester, the new Student Success Center has targeted general chemistry students with a computer lab where students take regular foundation quizzes to practice class concepts. Peer-led team learning sessions are taught by students who have already succeeded in chemistry courses.

Next semester, similar resources for more subjects may be available, along with extended faculty office hours in the computer lab.

Taking the Learning Resources Center's place in McDermott Library Room 2.402 is the Multicultural Center, which has been in its current location in the Conference Center for the past five years. Multicultural Peer Advocates, students hired by the Center to help with tutoring, advising and outreach, will be largely responsible for getting the office set up in the library.

"We will definitely need volunteers to help us move," said senior education major and Multicultural Peer Advocate Diana Gonzales.

When the Student Services Building is completed in fall 2010, the center will move again.

The Multicultural Center caters to both domestic students and international students, but particularly to minorities, said Assistant Director Danny Cordova. UTD has a large International population, the African-American and Hispanic students total only 16 percent, according to UTD Statistical Information, while the population of Dallas County is nearly 60 percent African-American and Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The idea was to create a resource center for a lot of minority students, a place where they could come and feel like part of the university," Cordova said.

The center contains a computer lab, a TV lounge and a study area that students can reserve for meetings. The new location may be organized differently because the library already offers a computer lab and ample study space.

"It'll be different because the library has some services that we have that students use," Said Cordova, "(But) I think our regulars will follow us wherever we go."

According to Cordova, once the Student Services Building is finished, the Center will be able to expand significantly in both space and resources for students.

Article Tools