Academic Advising
Students are supported by Academic Advisors in the Advising, Planning and Experiential Learning (APEX) Center with opportunities designed to enhance their educational experiences, improve their academic performance, and encourage informed and intentional decision-making.
APEX advisors and student peer mentors, together, help to provide students the support you need for success. During your time at Wooster, you will have several different advisors, from your first year until your final days in college. You will have several advisors while at Wooster.
Your first year, you will work with an advising team during ARCH and your First Year Seminar instructor will be your academic advisor until you declare a major. Once you declare your major, a faculty member in your major department will become your academic advisor. Your final academic advisor is typically your senior Independent Study (I.S.) project faculty mentor.
Writing Center
Whatever your concerns or time constraints, the Writing Center can meet your needs. Our staff and student writing consultants come from diverse courses of study and are prepared to help you succeed at any assignment, for any class, in any discipline, from your first F.Y.S. essay to those final I.S. edits. We are also available to help with non-academic projects, including creative writing and application essays.
Math Center
Students use the Math Center in different ways. Some students arrive with questions formulated and leave upon receiving the needed assistance. Other students prepare their entire homework assignment in the Center since help is available immediately. Alternately, others work here until achieving a comfort level with the concepts and then finish elsewhere.
Nearly everyone in introductory level math courses needs some help. In college level math classes, you have only 14 weeks to learn material that takes about 27 weeks in high school. With this faster pace, instructors expect you to read and study the text, and to study and review class notes to learn the material, in addition to homework practice. Not as much class time is spent on examples; rather, instructors expect you to re- view text examples outside of class. The Math Center staff can assist your understanding of concepts, examples, and homework problems. If it has been a year or two since your last math class, use the Center to get help with math skills you don’t remember.
You do not need an appointment to visit the Math Center, just drop in when you are free.
The Zone, located in Severance 105, is a STEM learning community where any student taking an introductory science course can work in groups, work independently, and seek support from professors (who hold office hours there) and upper-level students (the Zone Interns).
STEM Success Initiative
The STEM Zone is open Sunday–Thursday from 2-4 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.. You can also visit the virtual STEM Zone space on Microsoft Teams during those hours and receive assistance from a Zone intern.
The Zone and Zone Interns are resources offered by the STEM Success Initiative (SSI), whose mission is to empower Wooster STEM faculty, staff, and students in cultivating an inclusive STEM community to better support the academic success and STEM identity development for students from underrepresented groups. The SSI is a means to help faculty and staff do a better job of supporting the persistence and retention of all students.
Stay up to date with Zone news and events by following us on Facebook.
Who is in the Zone?
- Students taking introductory STEM courses
- STEM Zone Interns (ZIs) – upper-level STEM students who receive significant training and mentoring, and are available to help introductory STEM students with their questions
- Professors holding office hours
- Pre-Health Advising
- The STEM Zone Coordinator, Kara Melrose
What are students saying about the Zone?
“[The most valuable aspect is] the opportunity to struggle through and solve problems with peers.”
“It is a space dedicated specifically for STEM, so it is a very focused environment to study in. It also develops a STEM community at Wooster.”