Join the fight to SAVE STUDENT SERVICES, and Covel Peer Learning!!!

Link to Facebook Event

(Show others that you’re committed.  Sign up to participate via Facebook or through ThePoint)

SIGN THE PETITION TO PROVIDE PEER LEARNING

One of the simplest and strongest ways of conveying support for our campaign is to sign our petition!  Share the petition with your friends, colleagues, and classmates.  Our goal is to have 1,000 signatures by the time we meet with Vice Chancellor of the Division of Undergraduate Education, Judith Smith.  By signing our petition, we can show the UCLA administration three components:

1) Covel Peer Learning Labs is an essential part of student life and the academic community,

2) the closure of Covel Peer Learning will impact a huge number of students, graduate students, and professors,

3) a peer tutorial program must be available to all students, not just a select group.

“We, the undersigned, believe that Covel Peer Learning Labs is an essential part of student life. In defense of UCLA student services, the academic community, and quality learning, we petition that UCLA administrators make peer tutorial services available to the general undergraduate student population at UCLA. This service should be offered through the Covel Peer Learning Labs or
the restructuring of a similar program built on a collaborative peer learning model. We sign this petition in earnest hope that you, the administration, will recognize the debilitating consequences of the closure of Covel Peer Learning Labs on the UCLA community, and therefore will take immediate action to remedy this situation.”

(Facebook response to our comments on Chancellor Gene Block’s fan page)

Chancellor Gene Block

March 2011

Thank you for your comments regarding the announcement that, effective fall 2011, the Division of Undergraduate Education will restructure Academics in the Commons (Covel) and suspend tutorials for students in selected lower division courses in composition, math, and science.

State funds for the Division have been cut substantially over the past few years. In large part, I have attempted to distribute budget reductions in an even-handed way as “across-the-board” cuts. As a result, budgets for most of our programs have been cut to the bone; levying additional across-the-board cuts is no longer a viable option. Under these regrettable circumstances, I must eliminate some programs in order to sustain higher priority ones.

In consultation with my leadership cabinet, I have set three priorities for the student-based programs offered by the Division. First, we must sustain our innovative academic programs, such as Freshman Clusters, Honors Collegium, the Undergraduate Research Programs, and the course-based internships offered by the Center for Community Learning. These programs offer students unique learning opportunities and have become signatures of UCLA’s undergraduate education.

Second, we must continue to provide responsive academic counseling for all students to assist them in making wise academic decisions and graduating in a timely manner. Currently the counselor-to-student ratio of our divisional units is at a critical level, and our counseling programs cannot sustain more cuts.

Third, we must assist undergraduates, especially those who enter UCLA with less educational advantage, to thrive in a competitive learning environment. Typically these students are eligible for UCLA’s Academic Advancement Program (AAP). For the immediate future, I have pledged not to make further cuts to AAP’s comprehensive tutorial programs.

In this challenging fiscal environment, administrators are forced to make tough and often agonizing decisions. Suspending Covel tutorials was one such decision. Over the next few months, members of my staff and I will work with key College departments to increase “walk-in tutoring” opportunities for students in gateway lower division courses in science and writing, similar to those currently provided through the Student Math Center (MS 3974).

I realize that peer facilitated learning sessions in Covel have provided students with valuable academic support over the years. I am committed to furthering the campus’ capacity to build small learning communities for all students. Toward this goal, I will continue to explore viable options under the current budget constraints and to seek non-state funding sources for this purpose.

Judith L. Smith
Dean and Vice Provost
Division of Undergraduate Education

_____________________________________________________

This message is helpful in that the Chancellor & Judi has finally addressed our concern and the necessity for peer learning services to continue. However, as evident by the statement here, Judi’s priorities are definitely NOT in PEER LEARNING because she believes that a viable alternative is for professors and departments to provide TUTORING to students.  However, this haphazard “alternatives” plan isn’t much of a “restructuring” path at all because it basically eliminates the opportunity of a peer tutoring and mentorship community.

Peer learning cannot just be replaced by “departmental tutorials” (as planned by Judi) because of the following reasons:

1. peer learning provides a unique learning opportunity based in a small group and peer-led community,
2. departmental tutoring groups will not provide a systematic and efficient,  learning environmental to the 20,000 undergraduates who need academic assistance, and finally
3. departmental tutoring will not provide a diversified learning experience outside the boundaries of the professor and classroom.

If you have experienced the benefits of PEER & COLLABORATIVE learning, write us a testimonial and send it to savecovel@gmail.com ! For more information on the services currently provided at Covel Peer Learning Labs, visit their website!

Dean Lee, UCLA Undergraduate

“At the beginning of my freshmen year, I was impressed with how organized everything at UCLA seemed to be. From the summer orientations to start-of-school-year activities, many fellow Bruins showed me that at UCLA, people act on what they care about, what they are interested in. This attitude was exemplified in Covel Tutoring. It was a FREE service provided for any Bruin, no questions asked. FREE! That definitely gave UCLA a smaller, more caring feel. There’s a program here, staffed by students, that’s specifically geared toward my personal academic success, and it’s only an elevator-ride away in my building? Wow. Not to mention that the student tutors knew the material, and often provided detailed tips targeting a particular professor’s teaching style. What could get more personal than that? It was well above my expectations.
In the years since I’ve been taking advantage of this service, it has also become clear that Covel Tutoring is not simply a school-run program. It has taken on a life of its own, it’s been given new meaning by the participating student tutors and tutees. It has become a community known for its quality and pure intention to help students. People talk about it over dinner, recommend it to their friends, try to enroll in the same sessions, and line up early to get a spot. No other program on the Hill enjoys such great demand, so much so that we assume its availability every quarter.

Anyone who thinks ending this service is a straightforward way to save money is horribly mistaken. This unfortunate decision will generate temporary financial relief at the cost of an integral part of life on the Hill, not to mention that it will be received as an outright expression of anti-UCLA sentiments. Covel Tutoring has met the students’ need over the years and has become too much a part of our expectations for the administration to take it away without thoroughly considering long-term consequences.”

News of Covel’s closure is spreading quickly across campus! Our Facebook group has grown to nearly 400 members in less than a week! Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive thus far.  Please join our Facebook group if you have not yet done so to stay updated and contribute to the forum discussion of action.

We’ve been receiving a lot of e-mails about how supporters of our cause can help.

One simple tip for the day? E-mail a testimonial to savecovel@gmail.com! By just writing a simple statement on:

1. Why you think it’s worth protecting Covel Peer learning Labs
2. What you’ve gained from an experience with Covel Peer Learning Labs
3. How you think Covel Peer Learning Labs benefits the UCLA community

… you can make a HUGE difference to our campaign! The more testimonials we have, the more we show UCLA administrators that Covel is a valued campus resource.

If you could send a picture of yourself to include with your testimonial on our website (yes, this very one!), we would also very much appreciate that. Nothing like putting a name to a face, right?

If you’d like to get more involved, consider asking to visit Chancellor Gene Block at his office hours on April 7^th! To do so, send an email titled “Student Office Hour” to officehours@conet.ucla.edu with your student ID number by 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23.  A select number of students will be selected into the drawing to meet with the Chancellor.  This would be a great opportunity for us to use Chancellor Block’s influence and advice on how to protect Covel.

Our action teams will be hosting a meeting this week, so if you’re interested in becoming part of one of our action teams, please e-mail savecovel@gmail.com or send a text message to 714-651-4559 for more detailed information on time and location.

Feel free to also talk to your professors and peers about Covel Peer Learning Labs. The more people know and are invested in our struggle, the better!

Keep an eye out for ANOTHER in-depth report in The Daily Bruin to appear tomorrow!

In the news, Covel’s closure headlined today’s issue of The Daily Bruin.  The article includes Dean/Vice Provost Judith Smith’s statement on the issue,  which lacked any clear contingency plan on the future of this much needed student service.

The supervisors at Covel also wrote a more detailed letter to the editor of The Daily Bruin that explains how the closure of Covel impacts the student population, student leaders, UCLA reputation on academics, and professors/graduate students.

Swiftly after Assistant Vice Provost Penny Hein-Unruh’s announcement detailing the closure of AITC & Covel Peer Learning, students and facilitators begin to coordinate a response against this injustice.

Up on the hill, students currently enrolled in Peer Learning respond with testimonials of their invaluable and positive experience at Covel.  We’ve already received over a hundred testimonials from past and present students and facilitators.  (Check out some of their experiences in the “Testimonials” tab.)

After discussing the news with students, many are horrified and are worried for their future and the future of incoming UCLA students without Covel services.

Covel PLFs continue with their last sessions while sporting the AITC shirt in solidarity against the closure of Covel.

Would you like to be involved in the campaign to save Covel, a crucial student service? Check out the “What Can I Do?” section to find out how!

Penny Hein-Unruh

Assistant Vice Provost

Undergraduate Academic Support

Dear PLFs and PLF Supervisors:

I am writing to let you know about a change which will occur in June.  In addition to state budget cuts in recent years, the campus has experienced increases in mandatory operating costs, primarily for faculty and staff benefits, including the UC retirement program.   In the next fiscal year the benefits allocation for the Division of Undergraduate Education (which houses AITC) is projected to have a structural deficit of over $700,000.  As a result of this deficit, the Division is in the process of examining its programs and offerings to identify areas in which savings may occur.

A decision has been made to restructure Academics in the Commons which includes Peer Learning, the Peer Advising Network and the workshop program.   The Covel Peer Learning labs (Math/Science and Composition/ESL) will close on June 10, 2011.  In addition the Peer Advising Network and workshop programs will be discontinued at Covel and these programmatic responsibilities we hope eventually can be assigned elsewhere in the Division.  All of these programs and services are supported by state funding.  During the upcoming academic year, we will assess how the services might be offered by other units in the Division of Undergraduate Education utilizing their current resources.

Peer Learning for student athletes will continue and supervision of the program will be reassigned to the Director of Student Athlete Academic Advising.  These services are paid for directly by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics through non-state funding.  Hiring will continue in order to fill positions for student athlete peer learning for summer and fall 2011.

The decision to eliminate programs and services for students was very difficult, especially when the staff who have worked in these areas has been so dedicated to providing services to students.  While we would prefer not to discontinue them, in the current budget climate we are faced with cutting what many view as important services in support of undergraduate education.  Unfortunately, they cannot be sustained given our current resources and mandatory cost increases.