Academic Support

The George Washington University and School of Engineering and Applied Science provides a variety of free academic resources to all undergraduates. Below are some of the resources available to students to help them during their academic career in SEAS as well as tools and information that is available for faculty to support students.

Comments, questions, or concerns? Contact [email protected].

Academic Support Resources for Students

Academic Commons

The Academic Commons is a “one-stop shop” for academic resources and services across the university coordinated by GW Libraries and Academic Innovation. Academic Commons connects you to academic support for your Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology and other subject area needs through multiple types of support, such as individual peer tutoring, drop-in sessions, and weekly reviews. You can also connect with research and statistical consulting, study skills resources, research opportunities, and much more.

Course Offering Highlights:

Biological Sciences	Chemistry
BISC 1111 BISC 1112 BISC 221	CHEM 1111 CHEM 1112

 

Mathematics		Physics
MATH 1220 MATH 1221 MATH 1231	MATH 1232 MATH 2233	PHYS 1021/1025 PHYS 1022/1026

 

Additionally, checkout the many workshops that will help you develop your data and software skills.

Academic Support Strategies for Exams

Midterm and finals seasons are typically stressful times during the semester. Below are some tips to make this finals season go a little smoother!

Self-Care

Eating right, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and exercising are all ways to relieve stress or help lessen the amount of stress experienced during midterm/finals season. Relaxing your mind through meditation is also a helpful tool to de-stress. Here are some resources to help figure out what works best for you!

• From University of Arizona:  Smart Study Snacks
• From Harvard University: Mindfulness Meditation
• From Ace Fit: Home Workout Ideas: No Equipment Necessary!

Start Studying Early 

Cramming works for some students, but it is generally not a great approach to preparing for exams and can be stress and anxiety inducing. Instead, try to plan ahead and prepare materials to study early on so studying the week of or night before the exam will not be as intense. In addition, study groups (even virtual ones) with your peers can help clarify course material and reduce stress while being in a supportive environment.

From Claremont Mckenna College: Final Exam Preparation Tips

Remember to Take Study Breaks

Whether it is getting fresh air and a walk outdoors, watching an episode of your favorite TV show, or virtually hanging out with your friends, breaks in between long study sessions are imperative to de-stress and make the most of your study time.

ACM Computer Science Study Hall

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) hosts a weekly study hall offering help in multiple computer science related courses. The schedule is as follows:

Day Time Discord Link	Sunday 2-4 PM Contact ACM
Courses Covered	CSCI 1111 CSCI 1112 CSCI 1121 CSCI 1311 CSCI 2113 CSCI 2312 CSCI 2441 CSCI 2461 CSCI 2541 CSCI 3410

Calculus Lab Tutoring

The Calculus Lab is a free tutoring center for GW students who need additional help in their calculus courses. The Calculus Lab is only available for students in specific courses (MATH 1221, MATH 1231, MATH 1232, MATH 1252, and MATH 2233). It is operated by the Department of Mathematics and staffed by tutors who are graduate students in math. The goal of the lab is to improve the overall academic performance of calculus students at GW.

The Calculus Lab meets on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Rome Hall 771, and on Thursday in Phillips Hall 704. It is a walk-in Calculus clinic, and no appointment is needed for visiting the lab. For more information about the Calculus Lab and its schedule, please visit the Calculus Lab Webpage.

Student Success Coaching

The Student Success Coaching Program offered through the Office of Student Success is an academic support service provided to all actively enrolled undergraduates and is uniquely designed to help students build the needed foundation for a successful semester and academic year.

Through collaborative 1:1 sessions, students learn to develop learning strategies, establish healthy study habits, cultivate self-advocacy, build a campus support system, and so much more. It is important to note that success coaching is not academic advising, personal counseling, or one-on-one tutoring for a particular course.

The Student Success Program embraces a holistic support model and empowers students to: 

• Objectively assess barriers to academic success
• Establish attainable educational goals
• Develop and maintain positive daily routines Improve time management and organizational skills
• Enhance self-esteem and self-advocacy skills
• Develop personal study schedules
• Become active learners and class participants
• Take effective lecture notes
• Prepare for exams, quizzes, and presentations
• Balance academic and social demands
• Establish rapport with professors and key campus partners
• Utilize and build campus support systems

 

Visit the Student Success Coaching webpage for more information and to register.

 

Tompkins Takeover

Tompkins Takeover is a study break event hosted by SEAS before the start of finals week. Students come to Tompkins Hall for food, activities, and studying. 
 
Event dates and times are sent out each semester so check your GW email regularly.

Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Assistant Program

The School of Engineering and Applied Science is committed to learning and developed a Learning Assistants (LA) and/or Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTA) program to help support the learning in select SEAS courses. The students are part of the instructional team for the course and provide in-class support as well as office hours.

Please check your course syllabus and/or Blackboard for your LA/UTA names and office hours. Additionally, please email the course instructor with any questions.

University Writing Center

The University Writing Center offers members of the GW community opportunities to receive dedicated attention to their writing and research projects at all stages of the writing process. Their trained writing consultants work with writers from the first-year college experience up through post-doctorate and faculty levels. Rather than providing proofreading and editing, the Writing Center works to help the people who come through our doors strengthen their abilities as writers and to become stronger editors of their own work.

Click here to learn more about services offered.
Click here to schedule a free appointment.

Academic Support Resources for Faculty

GW Care Team and Response

At GW, we aim to create a community that cares for each other. The CARE Team fosters this goal by creating a pathway through which students who may need additional support can be identified and referred to the most appropriate services. Through the CARE Team, students are given the support they need to persist and succeed at GW and beyond.

The CARE Team is not an emergency system. Reports are monitored Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. If a report requires immediate outreach or follow-up or is an emergency, please contact GW Emergency Services at 202-994-6111.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please email [email protected].

Undergraduate Faculty Feedback

Faculty Feedback is an initiative designed to make it easy for faculty to report student progress around the mid-point of the semester. This early feedback allows GW advising offices to reach out to their struggling students earlier in the semester.

The Office of Undergraduate Student Services and Advising would like to know about these specific student populations:

Any students who are in danger of failing your course. Students designated as “Monitored”. Faculty members should give feedback on the monitored students as they may be on academic probation, and feedback allows the advising team to better assist these students.

 

 

Who Will Use This Information and for What Will It Be Used?

The information gathered from faculty feedback will be accessed and used by academic advisors and the Office of Student Success to reach out to students proactively with success strategies if they are struggling in your course. It is important to recognize that while the information entered will not be readily accessible to students, it does become a part of the students’ records, which would be accessible to students upon request.

 

How Do I Use the Faculty Feedback Function?

1. Clicking the “Faculty Feedback” link in the Faculty Menu on GWeb will display all the classes for which you are an assigned instructor this semester. You do not have to be the primary instructor to submit feedback. 
   
2. Clicking the appropriate course under “Select to Enter Feedback” will take you to the class list.
3. Students for whom feedback is required will show at the top of the list as “Monitored.” All other students will show as “Optional.” 
   
4. Clicking the arrow beside each student (under ‘Show/Hide’) will provide a pre-selected list of “Commendations” and “Deficiencies” as well as a free-text comment field. For all monitored students, please select appropriate issues and enter additional comments that you feel will be useful to advising staff.