Student Academic Support

Academic Advising Center   

The university’s Academic Advising Center is located in Hertz Hall, room 107. It provides entering freshmen, continuing students, and transfer students with general advising information and help. This includes information on the general education program, graduation requirements, transferability of credits, interpreting Central Academic Progress System (CAPS) reports, pre-major advising, and counseling students who are in academic difficulty. The center also offers special program advisors, advising seminars, college survival skills classes, and advising publications.

The Academic Advising Center manages UNIV 101, a required course for entering freshmen, that assists students with learning about the university’s policies and procedures, selecting a major, advising for general education, and other forms of support. For more information visit the Academic Advising website at www.cwu.edu/~acadadv/.

College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)

The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) provides financial and academic support services to freshman students from migrant and seasonal farmworking backgrounds. It is funded by a grant from the Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education.

CAMP is designed to help students succeed as they begin their college careers by recruiting and assisting them through the CWU admissions process, and by providing them support during their freshman year. Eligible students receive a variety of services including scholarships, stipends, tutoring, study skills training, mentoring, career planning services, and cultural enrichment opportunities.

To qualify for the CAMP program the student must meet the following requirements:

• Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or eligible non-citizen
• Have freshman standing (fewer than 44 quarter credits)
• Meet criteria to determine migrant or seasonal farmworker status:
• Parent (or student, if independent) has worked for at least 75 days in the last 24 months in farmwork such as production of crops, dairy products, poultry, livestock, tree harvesting, or fish farming. Farmwork must be primary form of employment and be performed on a temporary or seasonal basis
• OR student has participated in the Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program
• OR student or parent qualifies for the WIA167 program

To apply for the CAMP Program, call 509-963-1729 (toll free 866-298-4968 x1729) or download an application off the website at www.cwu.edu/~camp.

Career Services

Career Services is a comprehensive career counseling and resource center designed to engage students as active participants in their career development from freshman year through alumni status. The central purpose of Career Services is to help students prepare for academic and career success. The office strives to serve the needs of individuals through these career-related programs and services.

UNIV 103: For those who are not certain which major or career path is right for them, Career Services offers a two-credit course, Career Exploration, on the Ellensburg campus. It is offered each quarter. One-on-one counseling can achieve similar results over time if a student cannot take the class.

UNIV 301: This two-credit Career Management class helps students prepare for the transition from the classroom to the workplace. The focus of the course is on job search skills in pursuit of fulfilling employment.

Job Search Preparation: On-campus interviews take place in Barge Hall, room 204M, between students and a variety of businesses, government agencies, non-profit organizations, school districts, and the military. Educational placement files are managed through Career Services as well. Career events are offered throughout the year to bring together graduating seniors and organizations that are seeking well-trained graduates.

Career Counseling: Career counselors help students to make major and career decisions through a variety of online assessments and determining skills, strengths, values, and interests. To prepare the students for internship and career opportunities, career counselors provide information on developing strong resumes and cover letters, practicing effective interviewing skills, learning successful internship and career job search strategies, and how to negotiate salary. Focus is on becoming a professional. Those experiencing career transitions are also welcome to meet with a career counselor.
Students and alumni seeking assistance at Career Services are strongly encouraged to open an account on the Wildcat Career Network’s job search engine at www.cwu.edu/~career. Registration opens up the database of job and internship opportunities, and allows students to sign up for on-campus interviews and career events. There is no fee for this service.
Counselors are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Barge Hall, rooms 202 and 204M in Ellensburg, and at CWU-Lynnwood and CWU-Des Moines as well.

Cooperative Education: Cooperative Education offers assistance to students wanting to take advantage of real-life work experience while they are in school. Many departments require an internship as part of the major; others accept a limited number of hours toward graduation. An internship is an opportunity to combine career, social, and personal growth with the educational process. The student works with their department advisor and the Career Services Co-op office in Barge Hall, room 204M to prepare the process that leads to a successful academic/work experience.

Career Fairs and Events: The department organizes career fairs throughout the year as an opportunity to network with employers, learn dining etiquette, interview with businesses, meet with faculty, review graduate school opportunities, and more. Check information on career fairs, workshops and events on www.cwu.edu/~career.

Graduate School Preparation: Career Services assists students with the graduate school application process, including refining the CV or resume, providing feedback on the Statement of Purpose, information on the graduation school interview, and references.
 

CWU Testing Services

CWU Testing Services provides support to CWU students, faculty, and staff, as well as the central Washington community. Information, including a list of exams and dates, is available from its offices in Bouillon Hall, room 125, at www.cwu.edu/~testing, or by phoning 509-963-1847.

CWU Testing Services administers over 25 exams, scans exams for faculty, and processes Student Evaluations of Instruction. CWU Testing Services is a ETS/Prometric test center.
Exams offered include:

1. Placement into CWU courses or programs (COMPASS and the Communication test)
2. College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests for challenging certain courses
3. English proficiency tests for non-native speakers, e.g., Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC)
4. Various certification and professional development exams including CASTLE, KRYTERION and ETS.
5. Tests for other topics including the General Education Development (GED), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), etc.

Don and Verna Duncan Civic
Engagement Center

Taking action, it’s how you improve the world and yourself at the same time. The Don and Verna Duncan Civic Engagement Center (CEC) provides professional, major-oriented experiences through community service initiatives. From short-term volunteering to intense capstone service programs, the CEC encourages individuals to use their discipline-specific knowledge in order to address community-based social, political, environmental, and economic justice issues. Join the CEC in supporting important issues while building your resume and your competencies in the process. To discover what opportunities are currently available, visit www.takeactioncwu.com or stop by room 256B in the SURC.

Educational Opportunity Center

Deciding where to go to college, figuring out how to pay for it, and completing all the necessary forms is complicated. The Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) is set up to help students gather the necessary information to make good decisions about their future educational plans and think clearly through the available options. EOC is available, principally, to help low-income adults, who are the first in their family to attend college, work through the admission process. For further information, call 509-574-6895 or e-mail at eoc_program@cwu.edu. The webpage is located at www.cwu.edu/~eoc.

Educational Technology Center

The Educational Technology Center (ETC), located in Black Hall, provides instructional technology services, support, training and curriculum resources to all faculty, staff, and students in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The ETC library houses various library collections, computers, and a Multimedia Production Lab. The ETC is intended to serve as an exemplary model of educational technology resources and educational curriculum materials for K-12 pre-service and in-service teachers in the state of Washington. The ETC has wireless Internet access and computer workstations with printing capabilities. For more information call 509-963-3293 or visit the website at www.cwu.edu/~etc.

Honor Societies

Central Washington University maintains memberships in several national honor society chapters. Here is a list of those memberships.

Alpha Epsilon Rho: This is the national honor society for broadcasting. Founded in 1943 for the purpose of emphasizing superior scholarship and creative participation in telecommunication production and activity, it prepares its members for roles as responsible telecommunicators. Membership in Alpha Epsilon Rho is open to undergraduate and graduate students who are making electronic media studies one of their major academic interests and who meet high standards of scholarship.

Alpha Eta Rho: (AHP) This International Professional Collegiate Aviation fraternity acts as a bridge between aviation colleges and the aviation industry. AHP was established in 1929 by Earl W. Hill, an aviation instructor at the University of Southern California and, with help from students and faculty, was founded on April 10, 1929. It is the oldest professional aviation fraternity in history. AHP members serve the aviation industry in fields such as: Aviation Captains, NASA Engineers, Flight Attendants, Aircraft Mechanics, Aerospace Engineers, Corporate Pilots, and many more.

Alpha Kappa Delta: This is an international sociology honor society. Founded in 1920 and an accredited member of the Association of College Honor Societies, Alpha Kappa Delta is a non-secret, democratic, international society of scholars dedicated to the philosophy of Athropon Katamanthanein Diakonesein or “to investigate humanity for the purpose of service.” AKD seeks to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities that will lead to the improvement of the human condition.

Alpha Lambda Chi: The fundamental purpose of Sigma Lambda Chi is to provide recognition to outstanding students in construction curricula. Sigma Lambda Chi is the society that offers students the opportunity to be recognized locally and internationally for their academic accomplishments as a construction major.

Alpha Phi Sigma: This is the nationally recognized honor society for students in the criminal justice sciences. The society recognizes academic excellence by undergraduates as well as graduate students of criminal justice. The honor society is open to students who have a declared law and justice major or minor, who maintain a minimum of 3.0 overall GPA on a 4.0 scale, and a 3.2 GPA, on a 4.0 scale, in law and justice courses. The student must also rank in the top 35 percent of their classes and have completed a minimum of four courses within the law and justice curriculum.

Alpha Sigma Lambda: This national honor society, established in 1946, provides the opportunity to recognize the special achievements of adult students. Alpha Sigma Lambda acknowledges adult students who accomplish academic excellence while facing competing interests of family, work, and community. Members must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. The CWU chapter of ASL is Psi Delta Omega and is advised by the Center for Student Empowerment. Invitations to join Psi Delta Omega are sent out at the beginning of each academic year, and induction ceremonies are held both at the Ellensburg campus and at one of the Puget Sound- area centers.

Delta Pi Epsilon: This is a post-baccalaureate honor society for business educators. Its objectives are to improve business education through research, recognize exceptional research achievements, and publicize research in business education. Membership is open to business educators who meet scholastic criteria and exhibit a commitment to research in business education.

Eta Sigma Gamma: Since its inception in 1967, Eta Sigma Gamma, the National Health Education Honorary, has had a rich history of contributions to the profession of health education and health promotion. It was through the commitment of a group of dedicated professors and students at Ball State University that the first chapter of the honorary was established. Today, there are over 80 chapters representing thousands of students in colleges and universities around the United States.

Eta Zeta: This is the Department of Geological Science’s chapter in the Earth Sciences national honor society, Sigma Gamma Epsilon. The purpose of the honor society is to recognize exceptional scholarship and professionalism among our geological science majors, and to foster student scholastic, scientific, and professional advancement. To become a member, a student must have completed at least 15 quarter hours in Earth Sciences courses, have a minimum 3.0 GPA in Earth Sciences courses, and have a minimum GPA of 2.67 in all university courses.

Kappa Delta Pi: The honor society in education, Kappa Delta Pi, encourages high professional, intellectual, and personal standards, and recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in the study of education. Membership is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty by invitation. New members are inducted quarterly.

Lambda Pi Eta: This is the national honorary society for undergraduates in communication. As an accredited member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), Lambda Pi Eta (LPH) has an active chapter at CWU’s Department of Communication. LPH represents what Aristotle described in The Rhetoric as three ingredients of persuasion: logos (lambda) meaning logic, pathos (pi) relating to emotion and ethos (eta) defined as character credibility and ethics. Lambda Pi Eta recognizes, fosters, and rewards outstanding scholastic achievement while stimulating interest in the communication discipline.

Omicron Gamma: This is the CWU chapter of Beta Beta Beta. Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) is a society for students, particularly undergraduates, dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research. Since its founding in 1922, more than 200,000 persons have been accepted into lifetime membership, and more than 553 chapters have been established throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Pi Sigma Alpha: (Mu Lambda chapter) This is CWU’s honor society for students of political science. This is a national honorary, first organized in 1920, with more than 300 chapters throughout the country. Membership is based upon scholastic achievement and a genuine interest in the understanding of politics and political issues.

Phi Kappa Phi: The national honor society of Phi Kappa Phi recognizes and encourages superior scholarship in all academic disciplines. Membership is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members by invitation, with election based on superior scholarship. New members are inducted each spring.

Phi Sigma Tau: This is the international honor society in philosophy. Its purpose is to recognize and encourage excellence in philosophic scholarship among students and faculty. Central’s local chapter (Washington Alpha) meets periodically to discuss philosophic issues. Membership is based on scholastic attainments.

Psi Chi: This is the national honor society in psychology, founded in 1929 for the purpose of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining scholarship in, and advancing the science of, psychology. Membership is open to graduates and undergraduates who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet the minimum qualifications. Psi Chi is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association and a member of the Association of College Honor Societies.

Sigma Pi Sigma: This is the national physics honor society. It was founded in 1921 and now has over 400 chapters nationwide. It is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is affiliated with the American Institute of Physics and with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members. Students elected to membership must maintain high standards of general scholarship and outstanding achievement in physics. Besides providing an incentive for all physics students to rise to excellence, the society also encourages physics interest and science literacy in the general public.

Tau Iota: This is Central’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the international honor society in history. Membership is composed of students and professors who have been elected upon the basis of excellence in the study and writing of history. The society’s objective is the promotion of the study of history by the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and thought among historians.

Theta Alpha Kappa: This is the national honor society for religious studies. Central Washington University was granted a Theta Alpha Kappa charter in 2007. Its overall purpose is to provide local and national recognition to students with high scholarship and an academic interest in the field of religious studies. It also, promotes student interest in research and advanced study in the field, provides opportunities for the publication of student research papers of merit through the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, encourages a professional spirit and friendship among those who have demonstrated an aptitude for excellence within the field, and popularizes interest in religious studies among the general collegiate and local community.

 
James E. Brooks Library

The Brooks Library provides resources and services to stimulate intellectual curiosity and facilitates learning and research within the academic community. The library’s personnel are engaged in the creation of collections of materials that support the curriculum and the provision of access to those materials. More specifically, these activities include the collecting and preservation of materials, user instruction and guidance, information retrieval, analysis and organization, global access to library and information resources, and collaboration with instructional faculty in developing programs, collections, and research.

Students and other library users have 24/7 Web-based access to over 1.3 million books, films, government documents, maps, audio recordings, videos, and DVDs on site in the Brooks Library. Additionally, the library provides similar access to more than 25 million information items from the academic libraries of the Northwest that belong to the Orbis Cascade Alliance. Full-text electronic and/or paper subscriptions to over 15,000 periodicals and academic journals are available electronically or on site.

Library staff are available to provide personal service to students for more than 99.5 hours per week. Group study areas and an open computer lab are available to users who visit the main library in Ellensburg. Students at the centers have access through a toll-free phone number or e-mail access to reference librarians. Internet connectivity for personal laptops is available on each floor of the library and laptops are available for checkout by students. The library’s staff, services, and collections support the educational efforts of students, foster intellectual, social and ethical development, and show students how to locate, use, and evaluate information to equip them for independent, lifelong learning.

Student Support Services

Student Support Services (SSS) is a federally funded TRIO program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. SSS provides opportunities for academic development, assists students with basic college requirements, and serves to motivate students toward the successful completion of their post-secondary education. Students who are first generation, low income, or who have a disability are eligible for the program on a space-available basis. The program may also provide grant aid to current, active, SSS participants who are receiving Federal Pell Grants and are of freshman or sophomore status. The goal of SSS is to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants and facilitate the process of transition from one level of higher education to the next. SSS is funded 80 percent by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education and 20 percent by CWU.

Washington Trio Expansion Program (WaTEP)
Washington TRIO Expansion program is funded by the state of Washington and is designed to serve 250 TRIO-eligible students each year. Students must be first generation, low income, and/or students with disabilities, who are not otherwise served in a regular Student Support Services program. Students will have access to services such as those found in the SSS program with the ultimate goal to help retain and graduate them from the university.

Academic Achievement Programs: Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction
Individual tutorial assistance is provided for students participating in Student Support Services, Washington TRIO Expansion Program, College Assistance Migrant Program, Student Transitions and Academic Resources, Science Talent Expansion Program, and McNair Scholars.
Supplemental Instruction provides student-led, out-of-class study sessions designed to teach students critical thinking, problem-solving, and organizational skills that will enable them to master abstract and complex material. Supplemental Instruction is offered in several historically difficult classes each quarter and is open to any student enrolled in those classes.

Student Transitions and Academic Resources (STAR)
Student Transitions and Academic Resources (STAR) is an intensive academic support program that assists academically-at-risk students complete transitions into, through, and out of the university, develop academic study skills and responsibility for learning, and achieve their educational goals. Students served by STAR are conditionally admitted to CWU, their admission contingent upon their participation in the program and compliance with program policies. To promote the academic success, retention, and graduation of its students, the STAR program provides intensive, individualized academic advising, personal, career, and financial aid counseling, tutoring, peer mentoring, advocacy, and conflict resolution coaching, and appropriate referrals for students needing further assistance in resolving concerns and achieving their academic goals.

University Math Center

The University Math Center provides academic support in quantitative skills for students in courses across the curriculum. There are two main avenues of support. The UMC staffs and operates three levels of developmental math courses to prepare students for college-level mathematics. Advising for appropriate placement is required through the UMC, Hertz Hall, room 101. Individual tutoring is available for these courses.

The University Math Center’s second avenue of support is through the Drop-in Help Lab located in Hertz Hall, room 104. Students are encouraged to use the lab for any course with a quantitative component. Trained peer tutors are on staff to guide students through the process of solving problems. No appointment is necessary—students may either stop by with a specific question or use the lab as a place to do homework alone or with classmates. Current lab hours, placement information, and answers to frequently asked questions about the UMC’s services are available at www.cwu.edu/~mathcenter.
 

University Writing Center

Trained peer consultants work with students of all levels and disciplines, guiding them toward written communication that will be effective in a global and diverse environment, during and after their studies at CWU.

Consultants meet one-on-one with students in the center and reach out throughout the university. Consultants lead interactive workshops with small and large groups of students, tailored to the needs of each course; for example, they may discuss thesis development, research, elements of argument, organization, punctuation, citation, or peer review.

The center’s services are free and available both in-person and on-line, at the main campus and the University Centers. In Ellensburg, one-on-one consultations are available six days a week, in Hertz Hall,
room 103, the library’s Fishbowl, and the SURC, room 273. Students may drop by or make appointments.

Live, interactive online consultations are available by appointment, for students of all campuses. For more information, go to the website, www.cwu.edu/~writingcenter, or call 509-963-1296.