Hello, hello, hello marvelous listeners. Welcome to Out Loud in the Library, a Durham Tech Library podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Bippley, reference librarian extraordinaire here today to welcome you to the fall 2021 semester. The library has a few new updates. Our new hours are Monday, Thursday and Friday, 8 AM-5 PM, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 AM-7 PM, and Saturdays. Yeah, we're open on Saturdays, again, 9 AM to 1 PM. And if you think you might not remember, don't worry, the hours are posted on our website. We also have some awesome new tech tools for you to borrow. We have things like cameras, tripods, microphones, even ring lights, and I will link to our guide on how to check them out and how to use them in the show notes. Also, I want to remind you about our Read Great Things Challenge for 2021, there's still plenty of time to check off the categories. Remember, you only have to check off 10 of the 12 categories to win and you can double dip so you can win with five books if you're strategic about it. I will also link to our information about that in the show notes as well. Today's interview is with LaDelta Williams, she is the Director for the Center for Academic Excellence on campus. And she is awesomesauce. We at the library get the privilege of working with her on a regular basis. And it's always a pleasure. I hope you enjoy learning about the CAE and getting to know Del as much as I did. Here we go.
Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. What is the Center for Academic Excellence?
The Center for Academic Excellence is a place where students can come to get academic support. And it's also a place where they can come if they need help with, really any type of learning assistance, if whether it's in a class or if it's just something as simple as trying to open up a document or if they want to have somewhere to come where they can just study quietly is the place where learning happens.
And for students who want to visit the CAE because they're having trouble in their class, what classes do you offer help with?
Primarily, we offer help in all math classes, all English classes. And as I tell students a lot of times so they think English you think just English 111 ones well, you know your literature's like English 231 and things like that. But actually, we really offer assistance for all writing assignments. So you could be in a psych 150 class, and have to do a research paper or you could be in a bio class, and have to do a lab report. We can actually help you with all that, all those writing assignments. We also offer tutoring in biology and chemistry, physics, Spanish, fingers crossed, we're working on hiring some tutors in Spanish. And we're still looking at other subjects that we can provide tutoring with. Those are the major ones.
I was gonna ask what if someone needs help in a class that you don't directly offer help in?
Well there, it's two things. One, let me know. And if we're able to, we'll try to find a tutor for it. Or you can use Upswing, which is our third party tutoring service. Upswing is available for all Durham Tech students who are currently enrolled in classes and you can access Upswing through the website durhamtech.upswing.io. And sign into it using your self service information.
When is the best time for students to contact you At what point in the semester is it most helpful?
I would say it's most helpful in the beginning, even though I know traditionally, students tend to wait until either the middle or the end of the semester to come to us. But it's most effective in the beginning when we can start out working with you, you know from the very start. That way the knowledge can build on itself and you're able to practice it more often. And also, interestingly enough, it's not as stressful because you're not in a panic type of situation where you know, I have to do this or you know, I'm not going to pass or I'm not going to do well. You're in a situation where you can kind of take your time and really, you know, build a relationship with the tutor and really dive deep into the material so that when you get out of the class, it's not just okay, I passed this class, but now I have transferable skills that I can take with me, you know, from this class into the next level.
And I know that you've been offering tech help as well like help with using Sekai and Microsoft Word and stuff like that. Are you planning on continuing that into the fall 21 semester?
We absolutely will. I'm really excited about that, that we will offer that. And we will also offer our tech bytes, which we still do on Instagram on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But for fall, we're also going to upload those videos to our YouTube channel. So if you miss it on Instagram, I know not everyone has Instagram, it's kind of interesting, but not everybody has Instagram, so, but you can access it through YouTube. So students can look at it on our YouTube channel, or if there's instructors, they may want to use them in their classes, you know, as ways to kind of give students you know, technological tips, you can also link them into your classes as well.
That's great, super helpful. I know that the tech bytes are a really good way to absorb that kind of information just real quick as you need it.
Yeah, absolutely. It's been actually, it's been pretty fun making those actually. Our tech skills coach Detra Davis, she's been making the priority of those. And then some of the work study students and I we've helped from time to time and, you know, done some things. And it's been a learning experience, honestly, for me, because I've actually started using some of the apps that Detra has suggested, and we try to make sure that they're apps that you can use on an Apple phone, or on an Android, so we want to make sure that they're easily accessible for everybody.
How can students reach you? Are you guys working from home still in the fall semester? Are you going to be on campus? Obviously, all of this depends on how the fall semester goes. Nobody really knows that. But how are we starting out?
Well, we are starting out, I'm really excited that we will be on campus for fall. So we'll be on campus Mondays through Thursdays from 10 to 6 PM and Fridays and Saturdays 10 to 2 PM. And I really want people to understand, Yes, we are here on Saturdays. And on Fridays and Saturdays, because I get a lot of questions about weekend hours. And so you know, a lot of people are surprised that we are open on the weekends. But we are Yes, so we try to be flexible, but also not only we will be face to face, but we will also still be online as well. So you know, students will still have that option. And those hours virtually are 10 to 8 PM, Monday through Thursday, and then 10 to 2 PM Fridays and Saturdays. As far as face to face hours. While they are ten to six, Monday through Thursday, we've been doing some talking, you know, with some students and realize that that we may need to think about you know, the possibility of extending those hours. So you know, it's still a work in progress, but for starting out will be 10 to 6 PM face to face.
Do you work with instructors directly? How does your relationship with the instructors work?
We do work with instructors directly. And I'm really excited because I've been talking with a lot of the things over the summer and really making sure that we're offering what students need and at the time that they need it, depending on the program, students need different things. And so one of the things that's been really exciting, especially, you know, as we read things like you know, Becoming a Student-Ready College and things like that, really eliminating the barriers that could prevent students from getting the help that they need. So you know, talking with the deans, figuring it out, and then really listening to what, you know, students have told them and then they're sharing that with us. And then also learning more about their programs and the types of you know, topics that the students review and making sure that the tutors know that so that when the students come we can be better prepared to work with them. Everything is aligned so that, you know, what they hear in in class, they hear it from us as well, and maybe in a different way because of course, you know, everyone has their own learning preference, how they take in information and things like that. But the topics are still the same, you know, the content is still the same. So you know, it's always good to really have that alignment. And so I'm really fortunate that instructors work with me on that and then also they have provided some really great tutors as well so whenever we're looking for tutors, I've reached out to them and they'll have people. And even go as far as like, people who have applied they're willing to even look at the applications and let me know what I should look for in these particular subjects. And so that has really been great.
Who can become a tutor? Can a student become a tutor? Do you have to have a degree in that subject?
Oh, we have different levels of tutors. So to answer the question, can students be tutors? Absolutely they can become a peer tutor. They do need to have an A in the subject that they want to tutor and they would need letters of recommendation from, you know, an instructor, you know, or someone who can vouch for their knowledge in that subject. Then we have professional tutors and the professional tutors usually have to have degrees in that subject. So we have a we have a good mix.
Do the peer tutors get paid?
Absolutely yes, all the tutors get paid. There are no free tutors. Now do the students have to pay the tutors? No. Thankfully Durham Tech is very nice enough to pay our tutors without any cost to the students. It's interesting. I will get that question sometimes you know it's tutoring free? Like, To our Durham Tech students absolutely, because Durham Tech pays the tutor. So if there's a student that wants to tutor and I wanted to know if they had to do it for free, no, you will not.
Excellent. When you were in school, did you ever go to your school's equivalent of the CAE? Did you, did you get a tutor?
I absolutely did. I have always had some struggles with math.
Hard same.
In particular statistics and precalculus. Both of those subjects kind of took me on a ride. And I did have to get tutoring for sure. And it really helped me when I took my statistics class, I actually went on Facebook, like somebody, please help. Because I was actually taking it online. And so I was I was struggling. And, you know, thankfully, I was able to get some help. And my grades went from an F to a B.
That's a big jump.
Oh, yeah, my tutor, she was everything. She was everything to me. And I just and I told her, I said, you just don't know. Because I mean, I was literally at home, I would, I would cry, because I'm just like, you know, I was doing. And this is the thing that I would want students to know. Sometimes you can be doing all the things, but still really need that extra boost. Because, you know, I took my notes, you know, I made sure I asked questions. You know, I made sure that I participated. I was actively learning, I watch videos, you know, on YouTube, Khan Academy, you name it, I did it, and it still just wasn't clicking with me. And so I want students to know, it doesn't mean, like getting tutoring doesn't mean that you're a bad student, or that you're dumb or stupid or anything like that. Because truth be told, in all my other classes, I was hitting A's and B's. It was, it wasn't like I was just like a complete failure. You know, but I needed that extra boost, it's okay to have to ask for that extra boost. And to me the stakes are lower when you're working with a tutor because you know that tutors invested in your success. It's what they do, it's what they are hired to do. And so being able to work with someone and know that this this is my person, this is my person that is invested in my success and that's gonna do everything that they can to see me successful, it means a lot and it's helpful and so like now, to be honest, I don't necessarily want to take another statistics but if I had to, I'm more confident about it because I know that if I ran into trouble I know somebody I can reach out to to help me and that means everything. Especially when you're trying to get through, you know, a challenging subject for sure.
Oh yeah, I also struggled in math and without some peer tutoring would not have passed. And I was taking it online too. So that was particularly difficult.
Right exactly.
Can students come just one time or do they need to like, set up a standing appointment?
Alright, well, right now you know because of everything that's going on we are doing appointment base tutoring. However you can make as many appointments as you need you know of course we do try to make sure that everybody's able to get you know the time that they need and, and you know in the time that's available. But we don't put limits on appointments. Come get the help that you need. Um, a good thing to say even though yes, it is appointment base, we do same day appointment. So if you walk in one day and you need help right then as long as the tutor is available and not working with somebody else come right on in, work with them, it's totally fine. So we try to make it as flexible as possible. And I know some schools you know will say you know, you only have like certain amount of hours per subject. We are not like that at all. As long as we have a tutor for that subject and the tutor is available. Come on in, we'll set you an appointment and get you started.
Can instructors refer students to the CAE if they feel like a student could use the extra support?
Absolutely. We have a program called academic alert. Traditionally, it has been for our gateway English and gateway math courses. But during COVID, we actually opened it up to all subjects. So any instructor in any subject can refer a student to the CAE. We have a form that's on our website, Durhamtech.edu/CAE. Or you can just type cae in the search box. And ours is the first thing that pops up in the list. So it's really easy to get to. But we have a form, or you can just email us, either way. We've taken it both ways. And just send that students to us. We ask that you let them know that you're going to refer them just so when we call them they're not you know, completely clueless, like, why are you calling me. But yeah, just let them know that we're, we're going to contact them. And for students that are referred to us through academic alert, we usually set up recurring appointments with them so they can meet with the tutor every week as suits their schedule and get tutoring.
That is super useful for especially new instructors, adjunct faculty to know that the rules have changed. And you can do the academic alert for not just those core classes. And of course, I always ask at the end of the interview, what was the last book that you read?
Oh, wow. So don't judge me...
I would never, I would never judge you or anyone else based on their reading.
But I just finished reading for the third time, the Bridgerton novels by Julia Quinn. So I actually had, I had read the whole series, and then it came out on Netflix.
I remember that.
And so I ended up watching it. And usually I'm a little skeptical because I already knew going in that they had changed up a lot of things from the book, but all good things. It was actually, I, it was, it was enjoyable to me. But then for some reason, I just decided to just power back through those books twice. I don't know.
I have watched the entire series of Parks and Rec multiple times. So I definitely understand revisiting things that give you comfort.
Yeah. And I think now having seen the series, now when I read the books, I have visuals of the people who played it. So now, initially, I had my own visuals, you know, from reading it. And then once I watched it now, whenever I read you know, the Duke and I, I see, you know, the Duke of Hastings as he is and Netflix. So it's kind of it's very, it's very interesting.
That's really interesting. Has it changed your experience of reading them?
Actually, it did. And that was really funny because like the second season is going to come out. And they've you know, chosen the characters who, who was um, Anthony was already chosen in the first season. But the people that they've chosen for his love interest and things like that, now when I read it, I see it so differently, even though they describe her differently in the book, I can't help but see her as she's going to be in Netflix. And so it does, there's a shift, there's a shift there for sure.
That's really interesting. If it helps. You're not the only person reading those books right now, because we have them on our Libby app and the Dogwood Digital Library. And they're they're pretty popular on there. They're one of our most circulated books.
Wow.
And don't worry, anyone listening, we do not keep track of who is checking them out just how many times they've been checked out. Oh, thank you so much for sharing all this great information and for talking about books with me. And I hope that we all have a really great and boring, uneventful semester.
I would like that.
I would like to thank you so much to Del for coming on the podcast. And thank you for listening. I have a link to the Dogwood Digital Library in the show notes. So you too can read the Bridgerton novels. They obviously come highly recommended and now that they've appeared on the podcast, they would count for the recommended by a Durham Tech Library in category for the Read Great Things Challenge. I hope you have a marvelous day!