Academic help services are available on campus for students who want to improve academically, whether their grade point average is high or low.

One of the key steps to improve grades is to speak with the professor, said Dan Rice, academic adviser for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Go to the professor first, then to your adviser or the Academic Success Center for additional help,” he said.

Rice suggested students attend class, sit in the first three rows and get to know their professors.

Professors are more willing to help students who make an effort to do well in class, he said.

One of the main places for help is the Academic Success Center, located on the first floor of the Student Services Building.

“It’s a centralized place for academic support,” said Sharon Paterson-McGuire, Academic Success Center director.

The center offers several different types of assistance, including tutoring, supplemental instruction, the learning course Psychology 131, presentations, the learning lab and disability resources.

Tutoring is available for nearly every ISU undergraduate course. Groups of up to four students meet for two to three hours a week, Paterson-McGuire said.

Supplemental instruction is a study session with peers led by student leaders who have shown competence in the course, attend lecture and conduct two sessions a week. Supplemental instruction is available for selected difficult 100- and 200-level classes.

Psychology 131, the class emphasizing academic learning skills, is a one-credit course designed to aid students in a variety of skills to become academically successful. The class is graded on the pass/fail system.

Presentations and workshops often are offered in the residence halls. These workshops offer a variety of topics, such as time management, test anxiety and note taking.

The Learning Lab is a free service open to all ISU students. Students meet one-on-one with a counselor, and the student is advised on how to fix a learning problem, Paterson-McGuire said.

Disability resources personnel help students who have disabilities with academic accommodation requests. Students also have access to technology services, educational resources and programming.

“We try to connect with people who need our services and create leadership positions,” Paterson-McGuire said.

Shyam Goswami, freshman in engineering, is seeking tutoring from the Academic Success Center for Math 265. Goswami met with the academic coordinator for his residence hall, who referred him to the Academic Success Center.

“He told me where I needed to go,” Goswami said.

That is how the process is supposed to work, Paterson-McGuire said.

“It is really about developing relationships to enhance success,” she said.

Students can apply for tutoring, apply to be a tutor, find a supplemental instruction session and more at the Academic Success Center’s Web site, www.dso.iastate.edu/dept/asc.