By Ann McBride
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Everybody needs a little help sometimes, especially first-year students who may be unfamiliar with the UA campus and its many resources.
Enter the First Year Student Study Center. It provides freshmen and transfer students with a place to not only study, but also one in which they can receive free tutoring, academic advising and counseling.
The First Year Student Study Center is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. through the end of the semester, and is located in the Pueblo Cafeteria on the second floor of the Student Union.
An open house designed to welcome and familiarize students with the study center is scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. both evenings. Besides receiving free pizza and lemonade, students can also meet with representatives from various academic services and tutors who specialize in first-year courses.
The first-year center started in fall 1994. Socorro Vasquez, assistant director of the University of Arizona Learning Center, said the study center was designed to reach students who may otherwise fall through the cracks when it comes to obtaining academic assistance.
She cited a strong tutoring component for minority students and those who utilize peer advising programs, but she said many students do not use these services and would otherwise go without assistance.
Now, the study center reaches all first-year students, and it also brings various UA services together under one roof, helping to eliminate some of the run-around students may experience during the day.
Vasquez was pleased with last year's study center operation but she hopes to increase the number of evening "regulars" from 12 to about 30.
While the center is an important service to offer, she said, students will ultimately determine its success by their continued use and support.
Resources at the center are available to non-freshman as well, although Vasquez said that if there is a wait to see a tutor, first-year students will receive priority.
Students utilizing the center also receive a 20 percent off coupon for cafeteria purchases. Vasquez encourages students to take advantage of the discount, eat dinner and study all at the same time.