With the semester nearly half-finished and midterms approaching, some students may find that keeping their grades up is not as is easy as they thought it would be.

Howard Shapiro, vice provost for undergraduate programs, said students have many options to help them keep up their grade point averages.

“You want to take your classes seriously and work with your professors,” he said. “The faculty are very serious on working to make sure they are as effective as possible for the students.”

One place to go for help is the Academic Success Center, located in the Student Services building. Sharon Paterson McGuire, director of the center, said tutors, learning labs and study sessions are available through the center.

Tutoring is offered for all subjects. Individual tutoring costs $6.50 an hour, and group tutoring for classes in higher demand, such as physics or calculus, is done in groups of four and costs $3 an hour. McGuire said many organizations such as the Financial Aid Office will support the cost of tutoring.

An academic learning lab is available for students who want to sharpen their study skills and habits. Individual consultations teach students ways to conquer problems such as time management and test taking.

Students also can fine tune these skills in Psychology 131, a one-credit academic studies course offered each fall and spring.

McGuire said structured study sessions called Supplemental Instruction (SI) are offered for classes with higher levels of difficulty.

Kari Hensen, Supplemental Instruction coordinator, said SI sessions are led by undergraduates who have taken the courses before.

“The SI leaders go to lectures and take notes just like the students do,” she said. They provide two study sessions a week where they review concepts, problems and other material covered in lecture.

McGuire said SI is about “learning to learn the subject” rather than just memorizing facts from classes.

Some professors offer their own help sessions for their courses.

Tom Greenbowe, professor of chemistry, conducts an optional study session before each exam in his Chemistry 177 class.

“My main goal is to get groups of students to work in cooperative groups to help each other,” he said. “I want them to work to see solutions to the problem rather than give them solutions.

“By forcing them to think about the problem, they can see what they understand and what they don’t,” Greenbowe said. “They’re making use of skills and using technical information to make decisions.”

Shapiro said students should also talk to their advisers, who can help tremendously and provide support.

Some students may think seeking academic support is a sign of weakness, but “they are not alone,” Shapiro said.

“They shouldn’t think of it as a stigma,” he said.

McGuire said more than 2,000 students currently use the Academic Success Center, and more than 20 percent of the university has participated in Supplemental Instruction.

Information about academic support available on campus can be found on the Internet at www.public.iastate.edu/~deanstdt_info/acadsupport.html.