The Observer, April 21, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 25
Learning Assistant position eliminated next fall
Starting this fall, the Learning Assistant (LA) program will be eliminated, with many of the duties and responsibilities of the position to be taken over by Resident Assistants (RAs).
Declining student use of the program as well as perceived overlap between the roles of the LAs and RAs led to a reevaluation of the program. "We assessed that it would be a better use of university resources to eliminate the program this fall rather than waiting another year," Sue Nickel-Schindewolf, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Residence Life.
Lisa Marsalek, Associate Director of Residence Life, is forming a committee to determine how the LA position will be combined with the RA position. This committee will be comprised of members from Undergraduate Studies, Educational Student Services (ESS) and the RA and LA staff, as well as a First-Year Coordinator and Marsalek.
"We are not making the assumption that the RAs must do everything that the LAs did before. We will look at all the aspects of the LA position and determine the best way to provide those same things," Marsalek said. "We have an opportunity to be really creative and try some new things that may better serve students."
Students have mixed feelings on the loss of the LA program. "To be honest, very few people know about the LAs or what they were supposed to do. Even with programs in each building, many of the first-years didn't even know," junior Jennifer Kotzin, a former LA, said.
However, some feel the loss of another student to look up to will be a detriment to future classes. "Knowing that they are in the same building as you whenever you need them is a relief, because the answers to your questions about scheduling, declaring majors, tutoring, etc., are never far away," freshman Priya Sonty said.
Sonty, who will be an RA next year, has reservations about the attempted integration of the two positions. "I honestly feel as though I am not as well equipped to be an LA and an RA at the same time," Sonty said. "As big of a shock as it was that the LA program was cut, it'll be an even bigger shock when RAs can't necessarily fill the shoes LAs are specifically trained for."
Sophomore Anthony Vesco, who had been chosen as an LA for the fall, agrees. "I think the LA requirements were of a higher standard than the RA requirements," Vesco said. "I feel that not all of the RAs would have the same command of academic life."
Eight students had already been selected to be LAs for next year's freshman class. To compensate for the loss of their assigned rooms, these students were given pre-lottery priority for selecting their rooms. In addition, they were given the option to be RA alternates in case vacancies occur, priority consideration for employment in Housing, Residence Life, and Greek Life, and the option of free summer housing given to all hirees for the fall semester.
The LA program was instituted in 1989 by Mayo Bulloch to provide an outlet of academic support for undergraduate students. "The value of the program to students was to have someone in their home building who had lived through what they were going through, who they could talk to whatever their academic troubles, and to get some advice from when they had nowhere to turn," said Kotzin.
The program also had benefits for students selected as LAs. "I wanted to be an LA in order to gain leadership skills and knowledge of academic opportunities at Case," Vesco said. "I think that by helping another person you gain communication skills necessary for interaction."
Students are curious as to what the future will be like without LAs. "I think Res Life should see what happens without LAs for a year, and then seriously consider bringing back the program if they have the funds and see a necessity," Sonty said.
