PASS to the rescue!

Good morning Panthers!

      Feeling a little overwhelmed with classes, projects, and upcoming exams? Don't you worry PASS is here to help! PASS otherwise known as Panther Academic Support Services, is completely free tutoring available to UWM students. PASS study sessions are held all around campus, including our residence halls. If you are unable to make the specific times PASS is scheduled, they also provide you with online tutoring and the ability for you to schedule your own appointment.  For the tutoring sessions in our residence halls, you can just come right on in because there is no need for an appointment. Listed below are the Cambridge Commons and Sandburg Hall tutoring times and locations for Chemistry and Math. If you are a resident in Cambridge or RiverView we recommend going to PASS at Cambridge and if you are a resident in Sandburg or Purin we recommend you go to PASS at Sandburg Hall.

      PASS tutoring also offers supplemental instruction (SI) to students as well. SI leaders attend class in a larger lecture hall, take notes, and keep up with the readings and homework. Then the leaders hold a review session to cover the materials in a smaller setting generally once every week. This then gives the students the option to ask questions and recover the material that they might not be able to do during lecture. Use online tutoring, go to SI reviews, or use the walk in tutoring in our residence halls! PASS tutoring is an amazing FREE resource you should all take advantage of!

Good luck on your exams!

Valerie 

Fall Welcome and New Classes!

Happy Friday!

As fall welcome comes to an end, I know I have personally had a blast going to various fall welcome events!! Don't forget there are still a ton of ways to keep getting involved in and around UWM. UWM has absolutely amazing centers and offices that can help you academically and socially!  Some of my favorite offices around campus include The Center for Student Involvement which offers a whole list of available student organizations you can become apart of. Another great office is The Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research, which includes volunteering opportunities around the UWM campus. The Office of Undergraduate Research can help you find various research opportunities around campus and The Recreation Center can match you up with different sports clubs! These offices are great starts to kicking off your school year and hopefully keeping you very busy during all of your down time! As classes continue, remember all of the resources available to you to help you academically excel. PASS tutoring, The Writing Center, Mentors, professor office hours, and of course your RA! All of these people can help make your year at UWM the most successful it can be. As always if you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask below!! I know it's only three weeks into the semester but don't forget to get involved!!

Haley


 

Don't pass on PASS

Good Morning!!

                 Feeling over whelmed with class work? Not understanding something your professor is saying? Don’t worry! PASS is there to help!!! PASS or Panther Academic Support Services provide tutoring, supplemental instruction, study groups and academic resources. These services are completely free to UWM students and can save you hours of frustration. PASS sessions are offered throughout campus including the Library, Bolton, Cunningham, Music Building, and all three of the Residence Halls. Pass has various types of options for tutoring depending on the type and frequency of tutoring you would like to have. The best thing about PASS is they come to all three of the resident halls during the week to help residents with classes like English, Math or Science. These sessions are walk-in so residents can come and go as they please and don’t even have to leave their residence hall. If you want a more set tutoring schedule that is once a week with the same tutor you can sign up for an appointment on the PASS website for weekly small group tutoring. These appointments are a reoccurring meeting between you and a tutor for a more regularly scheduled session. PASS also offers supplemental instruction which is a program specifically created for large lecture classes. SI instructors attend classes, take notes, and keep up with the content being taught. They then hold review sessions each week to review the course material.  Finally, PASS offers online review tutoring in various subjects to help students understand harder concepts within their classes from the convenience of their computers. PASS can help students with just about any subject so don't be discouraged to walk in and ask for help! 


Until next time, 
Haley

Woah! So many books!

If you have already gone on a campus tour, I'm sure you've heard a lot about Golda Meir Library, but let me give you a little more of an in-depth look...

The library was named after Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel.  Meir attended Milwaukee State Normal School, which was one of the institutions that lead to the birth of UWM.  Golda Meir was known for her advocacy of zionism and contributions to Milwaukee's school system.  Meir taught in public and private schools in Milwaukee. Being one of UWM's most celebrated alum, the institution created one of largest libraries in the country in her honor.  Right off the Learning Commons, you can see a large plaque paying tribute to her work.

The library consists on two wings; the west and east.  In the West Wing, you can find the Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons.  The Learning Commons is home to the circulation desk, computer labs, the Grind, and various semi-private study areas.  At the circulation desk, you can check out books and pick up one that you have reserved online.  The online reservation system is a great way to gather resources for that English 101 paper!  Underneath the Learning Commons, PASS houses many of their supplemental instruction sessions. The East Wing is home to a Writing Center location, PASS location,  and a large study area.  There is so much room in the library.  It's almost 400,000 square feet!  Out of all that space, my favorite study spot is underneath the East Wing in the compact shelving.  It's super quiet there, and not a lot of people know about it.  The East and West Wings are connected underground by a tunnel, as well as bridges on the second and third floors.  It can be a little overwhelming at first, so you may want to consider taking a library tour.  I suggest exploring the library before you have to get that research paper done.


Oh... And I forgot to mention the greatest thing about Golda Meir Library: There are a ton of books!  Within the library, there are many different collections and libraries.  Here's a quick run-down:

• American Geographical Society Library
• The Archive Department
• Curriculum Collection
• Media and Reserve Library
• Music Library
• Research and Instructional Support
• Special Collections
• Digital Collections

  During Fall Welcome, the Library will host many different events to introduce you to all they have to offer.  Make sure to stop by!

Need a Hall P.A.S.S?

It was English 101 and I needed to make sure I passed this class. I remember trying to crank out a paper and I couldn't figure out what the assignment was asking.  After being a Resident Assistant, I have realized all students face that moment where they just need a little help.  One of the ways we have worked to make sure our students are getting the help they need University Housing has partnered with the Panther Academic Support Services or PASS to have tutoring held within our residence halls.

First let me tell you a little bit about what PASS is. It is a program at UWM that allows students to get that extra help they need to make sure they succeed in their classes. PASS offers a wide variety of subjects like Math and English  to more specific subjects such as American Sign Language or Business. With the large amount of classes that they offer tutoring for their is usually always someone there to help you out to make sure you pass your class.

Not only do they offer one on one tutoring but they also offer supplemental instruction review sessions. This gives additional information on the class subject matter to help the students better understand what is being taught in the classroom. The tutoring programs uses the course syllabus and usually the schedule to also provide additional review sessions before test or exams.

As the majority of our students are first year students needing to meet their Math and English requirements, PASS has worked to make sure our students are provided with the most resources possible to succeed in their classes.  That is where our partnership with them comes into play, providing tutoring within our residence halls at night to work around the busy days of a students schedule. 

This past spring semester Sandburg offered walk-in tutoring 5 nights a week from 7-9. Where as RiverView and Cambridge offered 2 nights a week opposite of each other from 7-9 as well. This allowed students on both North and South campus to stop in figure out that math problem they were stuck on or to have someone proof read their papers.

It is a great opportunity for students to take advantage of. After all,  you can't get much better than free help than right where you live! Looking back at my first year here at UWM it would have been really nice to have tutoring right down stairs... I wouldn't have had any excuse not to go get help when I needed it.