Students at Mississippi State University may be able to enhance their collegiate success by taking advantage of key academic resources on campus.
Thomas Bourgeois, dean of students, said officials at MSU continue to strive to provide students with the highest quality of education possible by supplementing their experiences in the classroom with academic services on campus.                     
“Many departments partner with students to offer tutoring in their subject area,” he said. “Also, many colleges offer specialty classes for students in their majors that discuss life skills and the transition to college.”
Brad Campbell, interim director of the MSU Writing Center, said via email the writing center is included in these influential organizations, which provide invaluable mentorship and promote the educational and professional success of their clients. 
“The writing center fosters a culture of writing to learn and forges a relationship between writing and critical thought,” he said. “We enjoy helping students with writing. It’s what we do.”
MSU’s writing center offers one-on-one writing and research assistance by trained staff members to all students, faculty and staff of the university. Their services include guiding and advising clients in the critical analysis and pre-writing stages, as well as the paper composition and editing stages.
The writing center also provides assistance with professional documents, such as cover letters and personal statements.    
Campbell said though he has not considered the writing center to be an underappreciated campus resource since its opening in 2004, his staff continues to encourage and accommodate the growing interests of students and faculty.  
“Students consistently voice that their experiences at the writing center are positive and productive. According to an anonymous survey, 100 percent of students who visited the writing center so far this semester stated that they would return, and over 90 percent of the students noted that they made progress on their assignments as a result of their visit,” he said. “The writing center is available for assistance with any writing assignment. There is no question too small or too difficult.”
Kim Walters, Mathematics instructor, said in an email the university’s math domain is also an academic resource on campus that continues to contribute significantly to students’ educational success.
“It is a great place to practice math and get help so that the students will be successful in their courses,” she said.
In addition to its function as the required quiz and test-taking location for some mathematics classes, the math domain offers tutoring and homework assistance for undergraduate students enrolled in intermediate algebra, college algebra, trigonometry, business calculus and introduction to statistics.
Walters said while she believes students often overlook the math domain as a tutoring resource, she is confident it has made a worthwhile impression on the over 2,000 students who take advantage of their services every semester. 
“I do believe that overall, the math domain has been successful. Most students who utilize the services have a positive experience and tend to be more successful in their classes,” she said.
Anna Dill, director of the Learning Center at MSU, said in an email that TLC also provides services that incorporate the interests of all colleges and majors within the university.  
“Students should take advantage of the learning center because we have people on staff who want to help students, and we have available resources that will guide them along their academic path,” she said.
TLC offers opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to take part in a variety of university courses, support programs, workshops, seminars and tutoring services across several disciplines. Additionally, TLC provides students access to state of the art technology labs.
Dill said though TLC’s affiliation under the College of Education often discourages students of other majors from seeking  its help, its services continue to attract a large number of the student body and produce significant results.
“We have a great deal of data that shows that our programs and students are retained at the same rate as the entire population of students,” she said. “We are here for them. We will be their best cheerleader. We are student-driven and will give them the best we have to offer.”
The MSU Writing Center is located at 94 President’s Circle with an additional branch in the Templeton Athletic Academic Center. The mobile writing center is located in the seating area on the first floor of the Colvard Student Union across from the Dawg House. Pre-scheduled appointments are required. For more information, visit writingcenter.msstate.edu.
The MSU Math Domain is located in Allen room 111. For more information, call 325-5805.
The Learning Center is located in Allen room 267. For more information, visit www.tlc.msstate.edu
 

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Jason Simpson

Students receive help from tutors in the math domain.