Allen Community College offers academic support to help students be successful in their classes. As a way to help students seek and find help for their classes, retention specialists, tutors and library staff are at the beck and call of scholars.

The Academic Support Team consists of Library Director Sandy Moore and Virginia Shaffer, assistant library director, Chandi Lies, retention specialist for the Iola Campus, Theresa Vincent, retention specialist at Burlingame, Susan Michael, online support specialist, Writing Center coordinator Bruce Symes and Math Center coordinator Jerry Vincent.

Symes and Vincent are in charge of finding the students excelling in their classes to be tutors at their respective campuses — Symes at Iola and Vincent at Burlingame — while also being a go-to for students who are interested in being tutored. As of right now there are tutors for math, writing, chemistry and biology, but if a student is struggling or needing help in any other subject the coordinators will look to find a tutor for that subject or refer students to the online NetTutor service.

Moore, the library director, is also the chair of the Academic Support Team. She oversees the college’s vast collection of books and databases, and she and her assistant help students with research needs as they arise.

Lies, the retention specialist, plays her role by working and following up with the students who receive early student progress (ESP) reports to make sure they are getting the tutoring they need or any other help that will make academic success possible.

“It’s hard for students sometimes to be comfortable with seeking out help in class,” Lies said. “Since academic support is new to the college some students might not know about it, and we just want them to understand that we are here for them whenever they are struggling.”

Tutors are students themselves and understand the struggles that some students face in college. One of the new tutors, Jarod Cooper, recently started tutoring students in chemistry and biology.

“As student tutors we know what the students are going through; we aren’t here to judge.” Cooper said . “I just recommend that students come sooner rather than later, because the sooner you get help the quicker you can start understanding what is going on in class.”

Academic support is available Mondays through Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays in the Library.