BY MICCO CAPORALE
The Learning Resource Hive (LRH) has been expanding rapidly and will continue to grow as it welcomes its new director David Blake. Now finishing its second school year, the LRH has made great strides since its inception. Beginning as a means of referring students to academic resources and connecting them with one-on-one peer tutoring services, the LRH also offers workshops on student success skills.
In the fall of this year, the LRH added English language guides to their services: tutors that work with students who have graduated from ESL or were exempt from it but would like to continue developing their English skills. The LRH also celebrated the tutor program being certified through the College Reading and Learning Association. In the winter, the LRH added supplemental instruction leaders: tutors that work with students in a group setting in time with specific course’s material. Now the LRH is setting up tutor services in Hong Kong, but it has much to look forward to under the guidance of Blake.
Blake transferred to the LRH after working as the assistant director and then director of the Student Involvement Office. With a masters in higher education administration from North Carolina State University, Blake wanted to shift his attention away from student clubs and activities and focus more on education.
“I’m interested in the more academic side of things,” Blake said. “I want to really impact student learning and student success in general.”
Overseeing programs like orientation and first-year experience through the Student Involvement Office, Blake has seen a different side of students’ needs and expects that experience to inform his contributions at the LRH. His goal is to “improve things, make them more efficient, and expand.”
Specifically, he wants to get the word out about available resources, get the majority of courses covered by tutors, and get the LRH to a point where it barely needs to advertise. He also plans to increase e-learning support programs and passive learning assistance options, i.e. materials that give students a quick refresher or help them teach themselves. In the long run, Blake hopes to organize resources within the LRH according to major, especially on the LRH website.
To learn more about services offered through the LRH, check out their website under the “student workspace” tab on MySCAD.
