 5 Questions With...
Terri Massie-Burrell
Director, TU Academic Achievement Center
Q: What is the goal of the Academic Achievement Center?
A: The goal of the AAC is to provide students matriculating on Towson's campus the strategies to become independent thinkers and learners in a competitive environment. We view ourselves as partners in the university's retention efforts. We express to students that the faculty member must be the first line of communication. Therefore, we do our best to instill in the students we serve that they must be proactive concerning their education.
Q: What services do you offer for both potential and current students?
A: Our primary focus is tutoring. We have an internationally certified tutor training program. Our tutors are actual TU students in many lower-level general education courses. Our peer tutors provide content area tutoring for many of our general education courses. In addition, we present a variety of study skills sessions that cover effective time management tools to assist students in managing their academic goals - both short and long-term. Graduate level professionals in the AAC provide academic coaching for students to help them identify their strengths and needs. We also support students in many of the pilot initiatives, such as the Freshman Transition Program (FTP), College Bound and the Strategies for Student Success program. Moreover, we advise students who are on suspension by assisting them in selecting courses to take at local community colleges during the period they are separated from the university.
Q: What are your biggest challenges on campus?
A: Our biggest challenges are being under-funded and under-staffed. This has been an issue even before we reached the current economic crisis. As the university student body increases in size, we have more students in need of academic support. This includes our freshmen students, continuing students and transfers.
As the population increases our funding and staffing have remained constant. Due to the resource constraints we have very few services available for upper classmen. This has an impact on our transfer population, who often need academic support, since the transition for them can be just as difficult as it is for first time freshmen.
Q: What safety nets are in place through the Academic Achievement Center that will catch students who are struggling?
A: Resources limit the amount of programming and outreach that we can do. We work closely with the Academic Advising Center to co-present workshops on "Having a Successful Semester." We also collaborate with Advising and Financial Aid on a mid-semester workshop to help students individually assess their progress to determine if it is best to remain in a course or drop a course.
Q: How does the center assist with retention and the achievement gap?
A: The AAC is firmly committed to staying true to our motto of Advancing Students and Enhancing Learning.
We run a well-respected program amongst our peer institutions. However, it is important to note that there are multiple variables that have an impact on students' academic success. We encourage students to seek out our services, but it is not a requirement; so we are not always afforded the opportunity to impact the students who most need our academic interventions. We have centralized services in Cook Library for primarily lower-level general education courses in Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business, and Foreign Languages. In addition, we have the de-centralized tutoring locations for Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Computer Science and Music. Tutoring for each of these discipline areas is located in the classroom building where the respective courses are taught. Therefore, we have established relationships with faculty who refer tutors to our center to assist those students having difficulty in their courses. We recruit tutors who have earned an "A" or "B+" in the course they're tutoring, with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. We recently completed a study on the pass rate of students using tutoring services during the summer trimester pilot and found that 93% of the students who visited the AAC received a "C" or better or a satisfactory grade in a pass/fail course, 91% of the students who visited the Science location received either a "C" or better, and 79% of the students who visited the Math location received a "C" or better or a satisfactory grade in a pass/fail course.
Culminating the 2010 Plan 
With the aim to improve Student Experience and Success, the Towson University 2010 strategic plan includes specific goals to promote diversity and improve graduation and retention rates among all students. By targeting the First-Year Experience through initiatives such as the Top 10% Scholars and the Freshman Transition programs, Towson University completely eliminated the achievement gap as it relates to African American graduation and retention rates, exceeding the performance of our peer institutions by more than 20 percent. Towson University's African American six-year graduate rate of 69.9 percent exceeds the overall university graduation rate of 66.2 percent. The two-year retention rate among minority students is 87.5 percent, which outscores the 83.7 percent two-year retention rate for all Towson students.
2010 Plan | Report Card | Guiding Principles
New in the News 
Read up on the latest higher education issues that have appeared in the news recently:
 Legislative Bills
The following bills have been introduced to the legislature recently:
- HB 16 Sales and Use Tax - Exemption - University and College Textbooks. Assigned to Ways and Means.
- HB 151 / SB 141 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2010. Assigned to Appropriations.
- HB 155 Delegate Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Award - Qualifications - Study Abroad Programs. Assigned to House Ways and Means. Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 pm.
- HB 348 / SB 334 Public Institutions of Higher Education - New Design and Substantial Exterior Modification - Notice and Consultation. Assigned to House Appropriations.
- HB 257 Evidence - Journalist's Testimonial Privileges - Student. Assigned to House Judiciary. Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 pm.
- HB 466 / SB 286 Governor's P-20 Leadership Council of Maryland. Assigned to House Ways and Means.
- HB 506 Higher Education - Delegate Scholarships - Summer School. Assigned to House Ways and Means. Hearing 2/17 at 1:00 pm.
- SB 283 / HB 470 Higher Education Investment Fun - Tuition Stabilization and Funding. Assigned to Senate Budget and Taxation. Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 pm.
- SB 311 Chesapeake Conservation Corps. Assigned to Senate EHEA.
- SB 503 Higher Education - Sergey Brin Scholarship Program. Assigned to Senate EHEA.
- SB 596 Maryland Prepaid College Trust - Student 2+2 Program - Out-of-County Costs. Assigned to Senate Budget and Taxation.
For more bill information, please click here.
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