Academic Success and Advancement

Department website: http://isu.edu/success

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Overview

Academic Success and Advancement Programs (ASAP) provides services and programs that are essential to student academic and intellectual development at Idaho State University. We encourage all students to realize their potential as prepared, responsible, and self-actualized members of an increasingly complex, diverse, and global society. ASAP includes the following: Academic Opportunities Program, Bengal Bridge Program, College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), High School Equivalency Program (HEP), Intensive English Institute / English for Speakers of Other Languages, University Honors Program, and University Tutoring.

Pocatello:
Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/success
success@isu.edu

Idaho Falls:
Center for Higher Education, Room 220
(208) 282-7925

Mailing address for both locations:
921 S 8th Ave Stop 8010
Pocatello ID 83209-8010

Academic Opportunities Program

Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor, Room 323
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/success/academic-opportunities-program
success@isu.edu

The Academic Opportunities Program maximizes student success by providing coursework that supports the development of academic strategies, facilitates successful transitions to progressively more complex university environments and expectations, and promotes the development of leadership skills and community connections. Our Academic Skills (ACAD) courses build students’ ability to identify, analyze, evaluate, and apply academic information ethically and effectively; generate critical awareness of university culture; successfully navigate the changing expectations of the university environment; connect to key components, people, and resources of the university and of our local community; and communicate effectively in a variety of academic and professional contexts.  The ACAD curriculum is designed to enhance academic engagement and self-efficacy to support students in defining and achieving their own goals in the university setting and beyond.

Click here for information regarding all Academic Skills Courses (ACAD)

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who complete ACAD coursework will be able to:

  • Accurately assess their own academic performance, identify courses of action to maximize academic performance, and revise academic and career goals based on self-assessment.
  • Demonstrate increasing proficiency in addressing the explicit and implicit expectations of academic disciplines and cultures.
  • Organize and lead groups productively, and assist others in identifying successful academic strategies to meet individual needs.
  • Communicate clearly and constructively with peers, instructors, and others in a variety of contexts.

Bengal Bridge Program

Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor, Room 323
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/bengalbridge
bengalbridge@isu.edu

The Bengal Bridge Program is a transitional academic program designed to increase college access and opportunity for recently graduated high school seniors. Our program is the largest summer bridge program in the state of Idaho. The Bengal Bridge Program is a 7-week summer term from mid-June through the end of July. Our program creates an academically strong environment rooted in general education courses combined with supplemental instruction, tutoring, faculty mentoring, and advising. Each student is placed in a small, faculty-led cohort where the student will receive individualized information and guidance related to academic success; financial literacy and financial aid proficiency; schedule planning and course registration; and acculturation to university life, and more. 

The cohort model provides each student with the opportunity to work with a dedicated and passionate faculty member and form relationships with fellow students in the cohort.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the Bengal Bridge summer program will be able to:

  • Demonstrate awareness of and ability to navigate the academic expectations and conventions typical of a higher education community.
  • Cultivate intentional decision making, agency, and self-advocacy in their educational and career choices.
  • Implement the fundamentals of academic success, financial literacy, social awareness, community connectedness, and personal wellness for university students.
  • Utilize university and community resources to build academic resiliency and self-efficacy.

College Assistance Migrant Program

Museum Building, 4th Floor, Room 446
(208) 282-3242
isu.edu/camp
camp@isu.edu

The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) is a federally funded program that pro­vides financial assistance, support services and cultural enrichment opportunities to students from migrant and seasonal farm­worker backgrounds during their first year at ISU.

Student Learning Outcomes

All CAMP completers will be able to:

  • Demonstrate awareness of and ability to navigate the academic expectations and conventions typical of higher education settings.
  • Develop specific educational and career goals as well as a plan to achieve those goals.
  • Utilize university and community resources to build academic resiliency and self-efficacy.

High School Equivalency Program (HEP)

Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor, Room 323
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/hep
hep@isu.edu

The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) provides GED preparation and post-GED placement services to migrant seasonal farmworkers and their families. Services include classes in Spanish and English, community-based and residential options, computer lending and training, access to books and distance learning platforms, payment of testing fees, and help with job searches and college applications. We serve participants throughout southeastern Idaho.

Student Learning Outcomes

All HEP completers will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the mathematical reasoning, language arts, social studies, and science skills needed to pass the GED test in Idaho.
  • Develop education goals, job goals, and goal achievement plans that lead to improved employment opportunities.
  • Identify and access institutional and community resources to support goal achievement.

Since the GED test is an integral component of HEP services, subject-specific student learning outcomes are provided by the GED Testing Service and are aligned with the skills needed to pass the test. See the GED Test Performance Level Descriptors for detailed learning outcomes associated with mathematical reasoning, language arts, social studies, and science.

Intensive English Institute (IEI) / English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor, Room 338
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/iei
iei@isu.edu

The Intensive English Institute (IEI) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program provide academically-oriented English language instruction, tutoring, and cultural support for students before and during their degree programs. The IEI offers full-time coursework at multiple learner levels in reading, writing, speaking, listening, vocabulary, and grammar. ESOL offers one-to-one appointments and group workshops to help students further develop their academic English skills, understand assignment requirements, and meet faculty and university expectations. We also provide workshops for faculty and staff that focus on intercultural communication and meeting the needs of students from varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Student Learning Outcomes

All IEI completers will be able to:

  • Consider audience, purpose, and mode in the production of original written work.
  • Develop strategies for gathering information through reading in a variety of academic contexts.
  • Demonstrate reasonable fluency in natural conversation settings as well as deliver basic oral presentations that meet university-level expectations.
  • Comprehend most speech on unfamiliar topics with limited repetition and explanation. 
  • Demonstrate reasonable control over grammatical conventions appropriate to academic discourse.
  • Draw upon a variety of strategies for decoding unfamiliar vocabulary and demonstrate facility with the most common academic vocabulary.
  • Follow basic cultural conventions in completing language-based tasks.
  • Demonstrate awareness of how cultural differences may impact academic success and choose appropriate strategies for managing those differences.

All ESOL program participants will be able to:

  • Demonstrate improved academic English skills as well as identify areas for further improvement.
  • Meet faculty and university expectations with increasing proficiency.
  • Demonstrate intercultural communication skill development in at least one context.

University Honors Program

Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor, Room 304A
(208) 282-1383
isu.edu/honors
honors@isu.edu

The University Honors Program is an academic learning community that offers a broad range of enriched educational experiences, typically found at a small private college, for bright, talented, and ambitious undergraduate students. The main goals of the program are:

  • Interdisciplinary Scholarship – developing the ability to integrate knowledge to express well-constructed insight and originality of thought through multidisciplinary courses and methodologies.
  • Intellectual and Creative Engagement – using the appropriate methodology and theoretical framework that includes design, synthesis, and interdisciplinary research.
  • Citizen Scholar – addressing real-world problems and finding ethical solutions, a process that culminates in reflective civic engagement, respect for diversity, and service-oriented action.

The University Honors Program offers opportunities for broader, deeper, and more complex learning experiences for students through interdisciplinary, theme-driven course sequences. Courses are designed for students who are motivated to develop their critical and creative thinking in a more personalized atmosphere than may be expected in typical courses. These courses are offered in small class sizes, deal with broad and/or interdisciplinary issues, and confront some aspect of the human condition. Innovative teaching and assignments are encouraged, and interaction with faculty and class members is lively. The University Honors Program curriculum fulfills many of the General Education Requirements. Please check isu.edu/honors for this year’s core curriculum themes and additional information. Questions about the University Honors Program and courses may be directed to the address above.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Interdisciplinary Scholarship Learning Objectives
    • Written and Oral Communication: Synthesize and analyze information from a variety of sources to logically present ideas in order to effectively communicate with diverse individuals and groups.
    • Integrative Scholarship: Integrate knowledge to express insight and originality of thought through disciplinary or multidisciplinary methodologies.
  • Intellectual and Creative Engagement Learning Objectives
    • Research: Engage in the creative process of formulating a hypothesis, researching those problems and drawing conclusions that lead to either original classroom assignments or larger faculty-mentored research projects resulting in contributions of scholarly work to each student’s chosen field of study.
    • Critical Inquiry : Ability to analyze new problems and situations and formulate informed opinions and conclusions.
  • Citizen Scholar Learning Objectives
    • Civic Engagement: Engage purposefully in leadership/service, mentoring and/or multi-cultural/intercultural activities within the Honors Program and Idaho State University.
    • Citizenship: Actively participate and collaborate as informed members of local and global communities.

University Tutoring

Pocatello:
Rendezvous Building, 3rd Floor
(208) 282-3662
isu.edu/tutoring
tutoring@isu.edu

Idaho Falls:
Center for Higher Education, Room 220
(208) 282-7925
isu.edu/tutoring
ifssc@isu.edu

Mailing address for both locations:
921 S 8th Ave Stop 8010
Pocatello ID 83209-8010

University Tutoring supports students from diverse backgrounds in developing the active learning skills and content knowledge they need to meet their academic and professional goals. We provide a range of academic support services through our constituent programs (see below), including individual tutoring, group tutoring, in-person tutoring, and virtual tutoring. Tutoring sessions outside of the Math Center are by appointment, with some walk-in sessions available. Our primary goal is to facilitate students’ persistence through the academic challenges they face while promoting their long-term self-efficacy.

Content Area Tutoring

The Content Area Tutoring program provides individual or small-group tutoring in all academic areas (except writing and math, which are handled through the Writing and Math Centers). Students may request tutoring in courses from anthropology to zoology at the Student Success Center in Pocatello (REND 323, (208) 282-3662) or Idaho Falls (CHE 220, (208) 282-7925).

Information on tutoring support for College of Technology students is available at isu.edu/tech/tutoring.

Math Center

The Math Center provides drop-in or appointment tutoring services in-person and synchronously online to help students understand concepts in undergraduate math courses and courses with a math component. Tutors clarify what students know, how a math concept has been taught to them, and why they may be struggling with a particular concept. Tutors also work other examples with students to suggest approaches to the math problems that students are doing and enhance understanding. The Math Center has locations in Pocatello (REND 327) and Idaho Falls (CHE 220).

Writing Center

The Writing Center provides individualized writing support in-person and online, both synchronous and asynchronous, to help students improve the quality of their writing for undergraduate and graduate courses in all subjects. Tutors are available by appointment to work with students at any stage of the writing process, from generating ideas to revising full drafts. They assist with organization and development of ideas for particular audiences and purposes, as well as with issues of punctuation and usage. The Writing Center has locations in Pocatello (REND 323) and Idaho Falls (CHE 220).

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who access University Tutoring services have a wide variety of needs and goals. However, we expect that all students who access our services will be able to:

  • Demonstrate improved content knowledge, academic skills, and/or learning strategies.
  • Demonstrate increased awareness of self-advocacy and goal-achievement skills and behaviors.

Academic Opportunity Programs

Rendezvous Building, 3rd floor
921 S 8th Ave Stop 8010
Pocatello ID 83209-8010
(208) 282-3933
isu.edu/success
success@isu.edu

Philosophy and Mission

Academic Opportunity Programs believes that student success is built on the pillars of self-efficacy and engagement. Students who take ownership of their own learning and make meaningful connections across campus and beyond are more likely to continue their education successfully, as well as contribute positively to the success of others. In the process, they build the skills they need to encounter new academic and career challenges.

The mission of Academic Opportunity Programs is to maximize student success by developing students who take ownership of their own learning, are engaged in the university community, and can utilize a range of strategies to meet their chosen goals ethically and effectively.

Program Description

Academic Opportunity Programs seeks to support the development of academic strategies, facilitate successful transitions to progressively more complex university environments and expectations, and promote the development of leadership skills and community connections. Coursework focused on academic strategies builds students’ abilities to identify, analyze, evaluate, and apply academic information ethically and effectively. Coursework focused on transition generates critical awareness of university culture and helps students successfully navigate the changing expectations they experience in the university environment. Coursework focused on leadership development enhances individual student strengths and interpersonal skills by connecting students to key components of the university and our local community. All coursework enhances students’ ability to communicate effectively in a variety of academic and professional contexts. Together, these four interrelated foci are designed to enhance academic engagement and self-efficacy, supporting students’ efforts to identify and meet their own goals in the university setting and beyond.

Goals

In line with this mission, and with the intention of supporting students in developing self-efficacy, Academic Opportunity Programs has four goals:

  • Goal 1. To prepare students at all levels with effective academic strategies that will help them to succeed in their academic coursework.
  • Goal 2. To develop students’ ability to critically engage with the expectations they encounter as they progress within a university environment.
  • Goal 3. To develop students’ leadership skills.
  • Goal 4. To develop students’ interpersonal communication skills.

ACAD Courses

Click here for information regarding all Academic Skills Courses (ACAD)