Running head: LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 1

Learning Assistance Programs in Higher Education:

History, Standards, and Insight

Randall Cloke

Salem State University

LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 2

Learning Assistance Programs have long been a part of higher education in the United

States. David Arendale (2010) has broken down learning assistance’s history—which stretches

back over 400 years—into distinct phases. Each phase progresses in time and the nature of the

work done in learning assistance changes as the circumstances around higher education changes.

In higher education’s earliest phase in the United States, postsecondary learning was typically

limited to a very narrow group of people—namely affluent white men. It is in this period—

stretching from the 17th century to the early 19th century—and the main tenet of learning

assistance centered entirely on tutoring, which was available for nearly every class which the

wealthy students took (Arendale, 2010a, p. 23).

In the middle of the 19th century, however, the focus of learning assistance shifted. A lack

of widespread secondary education led many institutions to reconsider the students they

admitted—though the pool of students in universities remained to be affluent white males. The

response came in the form of preparatory schools or academies supported or created by

universities themselves. New York University, for example, set up a prototype for this type of

learning (Arendale, 2010a, p 25). In their academy, they offered teaching for basic content. This

contrasted with what many higher education institutions themselves focused on, which were

“learning strategies that are often prerequisite for mastery of new academic knowledge”

(Arendale, 2010a, p. 28). The academies became even more important as colleges and

universities had fewer and fewer college-aged students from whom they could charge tuition, as

these many of these students served in the Civil War. So, in response, higher education

institutions created preparatory schools for secondary-school-aged boys who did not fight in the

war (Arendale, 2010a, p. 30). This sudden, sweeping shift, coupled with the social and
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 3

governmental changes that were considerably influenced or caused by the war, would lead to

even grander diversification in the aims of higher education learning assistance.

The third phase began after Reconstruction and continued through the Second World

War. Just as the culture of the United States began to shift after the war, so too did the

constituencies which higher education learning assistance programs served and the activities

which these programs offered. For the first time, the strict exclusivity of who had access to

higher education in the United States started to stretch, and demographics beyond privileged

white males began to see opportunities to study beyond a postsecondary institution. While

affluent white men continued to be the clear majority of those for whom learning assistance

would be offered—as this group would make up most college students—women and students of

color also saw institutions of higher learning open to educate them specifically (Arendale, 2010a,

p. 30). While tutoring and college preparatory was the primary focus for most learning assistance

done at this time—again, tied to the needs of the majority of college students at the time—

remedial courses began to make their way into higher education. The universities and colleges

founded to serve women and people of color, thanks to the Morril Act of 1862, found that the

needs of their students were different than many of the institutions which existed prior to them.

Due to the lessened quality of, or complete lack of, secondary education for these groups,

remedial coursework became a major focus for these institutions (Arendale, 2010a, p. 31). Soon,

major research institutions began to test whether remedial education would be beneficial to them.

Many found that it would, and by the turn of the century many of these schools offered such

remedial coursework. This would allow these institutions—just as college preparatory schools

did during the Civil War era—to expand their reach to more students whom they felt were

underprepared for the traditional learning they offered. This would continue to be the case for
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 4

decades until, yet again, societal changes brought about changes to higher education, and, by

extension, learning assistance programs.

The fourth phase, beginning at the end of the Second World War and stretching just a few

decades into the 1970s. This phase in higher education learning assistance is marked, in large

part, by the great shifts in the constituencies it served and the focus of the services learning

assistance offered. After the war, college enrollment increased dramatically, and higher

education began to serve a much wider array of students.

In addition to simply greater number of students overall, higher education enrollment saw

large increases in older students, many of whom had served in the war, and the emergence of the

Civil Rights Movement—and many pieces of legislation that were part of the Great Society—

also led to increases in enrollment of women, people of color, first-generation college students,

and students from low-income backgrounds (Arendale, 2010a, p. 35).

As the diversification of student enrollment continued in this era, so too did the scope of

learning assistance programming done in the industry. Centuries old tutoring-focused assistance

continued, as did remedial and preparatory education—with remedial education becoming a

formal part of the curriculum at many institutions—but learning assistance programs expanded

their services dramatically beyond this. Reflecting the needs of the many new students—and the

backgrounds of many of these students—learning assistance programs began to include access

programs borne out of the idea of ‘compensatory education,’ which is the belief that greater

access to higher education was one avenue which could help to make up for decades of

discrimination and poverty which many minoritized groups of people had faced. It is this idea

that led to programs like Upward Bound and Trio, which have been tasked with helping guide

students from minoritized groups to succeed in higher education (Arendale, 2010a, p. 36).
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 5

In addition to increased focus on these minoritized groups, many community, two-year

colleges were founded, which provided even greater access for many people who had found

higher education inaccessible to them. These schools were and continue to be less-expensive

than four-year institutions, and their geographic convenience—along with other factors that can

weigh in their favor—helped contribute to the large growth in higher education enrollment.

Many students selected two-year institutions, and the needs of these students—and the scope of

the learning assistance offered by the schools—continued to diversify the field. These schools

saw great influxes in older students, often driven by funding available via the GI bill, and

students who were underprepared for the demands of a higher education. As such, continued

growth in the offerings and use of remedial programs and classes were a large part of the

learning assistance that these schools tended to utilize during this period (Arendale, 2010a, p.

40).

The fifth phase in Arendale’s history stretches from the 1970s to the middle part of the

1990s. This period in higher education is largely marked by the increased in enrollment overall,

but specifically the increase in older students. The backgrounds of these older students stretched

to include a wide range of backgrounds, such that enrollment increases include those who are

attending an institution of higher learning for the first time as well as those who are returning to

postsecondary education to continue their schooling (Arendale, 2010a, p. 40).

Along with this shift, Learning Assistance Centers—formal offices within the structure of

a university or college—began to emerge and formalize the work done by professionals in this

area of higher education. This corresponds to the rise of professional organizations which unite

the industry of higher education overall as well as the many specialties included within the field.

These centers sought to offer the services and programming that they had been for decades in a
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 6

formalized way, but they included not only those students that had been traditionally in need of

learning assistance—those found to be underprepared, of certain educational backgrounds—but

to “all students and even faculty members” (Arendale, 2010a, p.43).

Another new aspect of higher education learning assistance of the creation of

developmental education. It was this term, according to Arendale, and the focus of what the term

meant—the idea of a college student continuously developing throughout their time in college—

that “returned learning assistance to its historic roots by focusing on the entire student

population” (Arendale, 2010a, p. 44). It is important to note here that this did not cease the

existence or work of the access programs and services created, implemented, or more greatly

supported during the previous phrase in the history of learning assistance. Those aims

continued—and in fact continued even more fervently than they had in the previous phase—but

learning assistance aspired to include the development and continued educational growth of all

students.

The contemporary phase in which learning assistance currently finds itself began in the

middle of the 1990s. Turbulence and the fast pace of change has been seen rather explicitly

throughout the history of higher education and the learning assistance offered within or catering

to this field. This changes within this phase are numerous and wide-reaching. They are, however,

best experienced through the standards by which much of learning assistance is done, the

experiences of professionals in the field, and the literature that considers the work they do. From

the mission of the field overall, the wide range of backgrounds of the professionals who carry out

the work of learning assistance, to the issues which affect and shape the work these professionals

do every day, it is important to consider the historical background through which these aspects of

the learning assistance are informed.

LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 7

Mission

The formal mission and direction of Learning Assistance Programs is both narrow and

far-reaching. There are numerous main tenets on which this functional area focuses, but the

application of this directive is to be applied a very wide scope. Realizing this, the Council for the

Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, also known as CAS, developed and released

formalized standards set forth for each of the functional areas in higher education. Learning

Assistance Programs, being one such functional area, has published standards on an array of

topics which inform the work they do.

Learning Assistance Programs are to keep students as their primary concentration as they

carry out their work (CAS, 2015, p. 323). Given this functional area’s place in higher education,

and its history, one can certainly surmise the expectation that this would be the case. With

students being the essential focus, it is Learning Assistance’s goal to aid students in their

ongoing and everlasting learning journey. Part of that journey is understanding the institutional

context in which learning takes place. As a student, that means knowing the particularities of the

type and scope of learning that occurs there. Given the vitalness of this essential knowledge,

Learning Assistance Programs should include within their aims and goals the aspiration to enable

students to navigate and better comprehend the particular institution’s expectations of them as

students. Along with this, the CAS standards also direct Learning Assistance Programs to

familiarize whom they serve with the expectations that faculty will have for them as students, as

well as what higher education culture is like and means for them, too.

In addition to this non-academic learning that is facilitated, Learning Assistance

Programs are to provide those they serve with a varied set of instructional approaches, as well as

those that students may come across in their formal education. In this sense, it is important that
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 8

Learning Assistance Programs also highlight and strive to aid students’ development to

effectively apply the skills and strategies they learning in these offices to their formal, in-class

learning.

Learning Assistance Programs should also strive to help create and grow a positive sense

of academic self-efficacy in the students they serve, as this is vital for students’ continued growth

in their higher education experience. As part of this, students are expected to be accountable “for

their own learning” (CAS, 2015 p. 323), as this ownership of one’s education is important as

they grow to learn new concepts and grow as people. Learning Assistance Programs should also

provide the means by which students can be responsible for their continued learning, both inside

the classroom and outside of it.

Programs, Services, and Collaborators

The CAS Standards released in 2015 allow for and provide explicit, detailed guidelines

around which a Learning Assistance Program can center operate or structure itself. Included within

these guidelines are those which detail the programmatic and services considerations of such an

office in an institution of higher learning.

Prominently, the services offered by the Learning Assistance Program should aid students’

formal learning journey, which includes the education that takes place both inside the classroom

and outside of it. As part of this, a Learning Assistance program must also assist in the student’s

overall progression and that individual student’s educational goals. This will ultimately lead to the

inclusion of helping to prepare students for their future professional work, their duty as learned

citizens, and their life’s journey overall (CAS, 2015, p. 323).

One other main tenet of this directive of Learning Assistance Programs is their aim to aid

overall student learning and development. As such, they should define and develop learning
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 9

outcomes which are specific to an individual’s education. As part of this, such outcomes should

be assessed to their effectiveness in aiding the student’s educational development. Learning

Assistance Programs should also aim to use the evidence gathered by these assessments to monitor

and continue to develop their programs and services to increase student development (CAS, 2015,

p. 323).

The learning and development outcomes that are created should align with and relate

directly two the six CAS domains in this area. The first domain is “knowledge acquisition,

integration, construction, and application” wherein a learning assistance program would

specifically seek to aid the development of understanding knowledge from a wide range of specific

disciplines, drawing bridges from pieces of knowledge to other pieces, creating knowledge and

then ultimately applying this learned and created knowledge to one’s daily life.

The second domain is “cognitive complexity” which would include the aim to assist

students’ development of different types of thinking skills. These skills include critical and

reflective thinking, along with reasoning and creativity (CAS, 2015, p. 323).. This is different from

the third domain which relates entirely to the development of a student’s self, otherwise known as

“intrapersonal development.”

This third dimension develops one’s internal knowledge about themselves and who they

are. This would include beliefs about one’s ethics and worldview, one’s spiritual development,

and the development of the many facets which populate one’s identity (CAS, 2015, p. 323). This

area of developmental outcomes is different from the fourth, which centers on the development of

one’s relationships with others, known as “interpersonal development.” This domain adheres

Learning Assistance Programs to aid students’ development of relationships that have meaning,

the creation and furthering of the understanding that one is connected with others, just as others
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 10

are connected with one, the need to work with others, and the ability to lead others, where needed

(CAS, 2015, p. 323).

One of the final two dimensions in which learning outcomes should fall are those which

relate to one’s development of humanitarianism and civic understanding and engagement. Within

these dimensions, a Learning Assistance Program should aim to engage students in broadening

their understanding of difference between persons, including those which are derived from culture.

Additionally, assistance should be centered around aiding students in engaging their civic

understanding and their duty as a citizen of their state, country, earth, etc. (CAS, 2015, p.323).

The final domain is focused on the development of a student’s “practical competence.”

Here, Learning Assistance Programs should provide for the development of one’s communication

skills, aiding a student as they progress through their professional and overall academic

experiences, as well as other aspects of holistic development. Learning Assistance programs

should allow for students to be healthier people in both mind and body. (CAS, 2015, p. 323).

As part of their offerings, Learning Assistance Programs should be informed by both

informal formal theory about student development. These offices should be integrated into the

culture of the institution, and the office should be keenly aware of and be “reflective” of the student

populations whom the institution serves (CAS, 2015, p. 324) and provide for the needs of specific

students.

Finally, Learning Assistance Programs should serve all students (CAS, 2015, p. 324).

They may seek to engage particular populations as well. The offices should provide differentiated

instruction in numerous subject and content areas, and this instruction should be tied directly to

the student as an individual, as not all students learn in the same way or pace as another student

might. Learning Assistance Programs should work with other offices on campus and the colleagues
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 11

who work in them so that all may be accountable for and seek to aid in the wide range of

development occurs in students at the institution. This collaboration should include referral, either

formally or informally, of students to other offices and departments at the institution which may

help students to continue more actively or fully on their learning journey (CAS, 2015, p. 324).

Ethical Considerations

The CAS standards for the Learning Assistance Programs functional area also provide

guidelines for ethical considerations which should occur in this type of work. Broadly, the

guidelines state that individual offices which provide learning assistance should both create,

implement, and continuously review ethical statements specific to the work they do.

This being suggested, the CAS Standards also provide ideas which should be included in

such ethical statements. Chiefly, it is suggested that privacy and confidentiality remain central to

their statements. It should be made clear the personnel who work in learning assistance that their

records and communication are to be kept confidential to the extent for which the local privacy

laws insist. When disclosure of particular information is to be done, the limit of this disclosure

should always be made clear to the stakeholders (CAS, 2015, p. 327). There should be the

inclusion for calls of staff to be inclusive, fair, and avoid subjectivity. Similar to this, statements

developed by CAS standards should also include mandatory requirements of staff to disclose any

and all conflicts of interest that may arise. There should also be explicit expectations of staff to

hold each other ethically accountable, and that scholarly integrity should be maintained at all

times (CAS, 2015, p. 327).

More broadly, it should be expected that staff employ ethical decision making in their

daily work in a Learning Assistance Program, and that disclosure of necessary ethical mandates

be made clear during program and service offerings. Further, it is expected that staff perform the
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 12

duties outlined in their responsibilities and such that fit within their experience, education, and

ability. When the needs of a responsibility are beyond the scope of one’s ability, experience, or

education, it should be referred to those who can carry out the task or who can refer the task to

someone who can complete the work (CAS, 2015, p. 327).

Finally, all work done within a Learning Assistance Program should adhere to the

guidelines and rules of the institution in which it is situated. This includes those rules relating to

academic integrity, code of conduct, and funding guidelines (CAS, 2015, p. 327). Such

adherence will allow for an office to be more closely aligned with the professional standards for

this functional area as set forth in the CAS Standards.

Career Pathways and Professional Responsibilities

Learning Assistance Programs are staffed by many people with various levels of

responsibilities, educations, and roles. The CAS Standards for this functional area provide a

structured framework by which such offices should orient their hiring, training, and development

of their employees.

At the top of most offices are professional staff members, though the number of which

will vary from institution to institution due to a variety of factors. The CAS Standards call for

professional staff members in this functional area to hold a graduate or professional degree

which is directly related or aligned with the work they will do in a Learning Assistance Program.

Such degrees, according to the standards would include, among other areas, English, reading,

student development, and counseling (CAS, 2015, p. 326). The degrees desired by office will

vary, as the nature of the work done in each office is different and is related directly to the

institutional context in which respective offices operate.

LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 13

Professional staff should be expected to have dependable knowledge in the area in which

they assist or teach (CAS, 2015, p. 326). Further, staff should, in the light of the needs for the

various ways in and pace at which students learn, be able to offer differentiated instruction that

fits the needs of the students seeking assistance. Such knowledge of various types of learning

should also apply to any materials or marketing done to students, highlighting the staff’s ability

to work with students of all levels, backgrounds, and learning styles (CAS, 2015, p. 326). Staff

should be competent in supervising student staff, creating learning strategies, and working with

colleagues in other offices and administrators who are stakeholders in the work that they do

(CAS, 2015, p. 327).

The next type of staff that are often found in Learning Assistance Programs are graduate

students. These students should, similar to the professional staff, be in the process of obtaining

their graduate degree in a related or relevant area to learning assistance. Further, these graduate-

level staff members should be trained and supervised by the professional staff members (CAS,

2015, p. 327).

The last type of staff which are part of learning assistance offices are student

employees—staff members who are student peers of those who may seek learning assistance.

These staff members should, like the graduate students employed in learning assistance, be

trained and supervised by the professional staff in the Learning Assistance Program.

Professional Development and Resources

There are many areas in which and avenues through which a professional in a Learning

Assistance Program can continue their development. Such resources include numerous

professional associations, these associations’ related conferences, and journals and literature
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 14

resources which provide, among other topics, guidance on best practices and discussion of

contemporary issues.

While there isn’t one overarching professional association in which most Learning

Assistance Programs staff members should consider, the benefit of having multiple of them

allows for a professional to think even more considerably about particular areas of their work.

One such organization is the student affairs organization American College Personnel

Association, or ACPA. Learning assistance is not the central focus of ACPA, but there is a

related commission which is housed within the ACPA that could be helpful professionals in this

functional area, which is the Commission for Academic Support in Higher Education (American

College Personnel Association, n.d.). The commission offers suggestions for best practices,

opportunities to network, newsletters, and an academic monograph that centers entirely on this

area in higher education. The commission also takes nominators for awards at the ACPA’s

national conference, and at that conference the commission sponsors panels and talks about

topics and research in this functional area.

Another association is the Council for Learning Assistance and Developmental Education

Associations, CLADEA. What makes this professional group helpful is that they include six

different professional organizations, all of which would be incredibly helpful to those in learning

assistance in higher education (Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education

Associations, n.d.). The council’s member organizations include those centered around tutoring,

reading and learning, and developmental education. Using the Council is helpful as it would

allow a professional to easily find and peruse the resources available within the six member

organizations. CLADEA offers its own publication of research into the field, as well as an
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 15

extensive list of suggested readings with which professionals in Learning Assistance Programs

should be familiar.

Further, there are numerous journals and written resources which would be helpful to a

professional in learning assistance. In addition to the industry-wide publications, such as the

Chronicle of Higher Education newspaper and website, the Journal of College Reading and

Learning published by the College Reading and Learning Association (a member organization of

CLADEA), and the Learning Assistance Review, published by the National College Learning

Center Association (also a member of CLADEA).

Challenges and Research

Learning Assistance Programs face numerous issues in the contemporary age.

Fortunately, modern research conducted allows coverage and discussion for many of these issues

and additional literature that will be helpful for the practice a learning assistance professional

develops and implements.

David Arendale (2010) published a detailed record of some of the issues which confront

learning assistance programs. Most prominently, he discusses the problem presented by the lack

of understanding the history of learning assistance in higher education in the United States.

Among them, he notes that lacking such knowledge causes issues such as the misappropriate or

misusage of terms which can be exclusionary to students. The sample he cites is labeling

students as “remedial” or ‘developmental’” despite the fact that those students may express a

high level of understanding or competence in a particular area for which they are not seeking

learning assistance (Arendale, 2010b, p. 8).

Another issue which Arendale discusses is the financial situations in which Learning

Assistance Programs can find themselves. In the context of the higher education landscape
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 16

overall, funding is a continuously scarcer resource at many institutions. This puts a strain on the

many offices and departments at those institutions. Discussed is the effect that fewer tax dollars

to institutions individually and the allocation of funding to Learning Assistance Programs is

unceasingly tenuous (Arendale, 2010b, p. 20). Further, Arendale asserts that slashed funding

disproportionately affects historically underrepresented groups, and that such cuts to programs

which aid them can be at odds with the respective states missions at those institutions (Arendale,

2010b, p. 19).

Contemporary research also includes topics beyond issues the functional area faces.

Dvorak (2004) discussed some of the facets that higher-level professional staff might encounter,

should implement, or have knowledge of. Among these topics include the changing demography

of higher education overall, thus presenting an awareness of the institution-specific

demographics (Dvorak, 2004, p. 41), using the Learning Assistance Program’s situation in the

organizational structure to lobby in its own self-interest at the institutional level (Dvorak, 2004,

p. 42), and numerous ways in which the office may offer programing and services (Dvorak, 200,

pp. 45-46) and hire staff (Dvorak, 2004, p. 47).

Whether it is Arendale’s discussion of issues facing Learning Assistance Programs, or

Dvorak’s best practices and delineation of how many offices take shape, there is considerable

research into many topics which will be helpful to a staff member and could be implemented in

their practice.

Insight

As noted before, what is perhaps the best way to understand the contemporary experience

of Learning Assistance Programs in higher education is done through understanding the

LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 17

standards by which they should perform, the history prior to this time, and through the insight

gained by those currently working in the field.

What has been discussed in passing but not explicitly is the institutional context in which

learning assistance takes place. Knowing that, however, leads one to know that there can often be

monumental differences in the administration and circumstances from one institution of higher

learning to the next, and those differences can be felt, rather explicitly, when learning about or

working in one setting versus another.

Take, for example, Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The

comprehensive, master’s-level, public institution serves nearly 20,000 undergraduate students

(Appalachian State University, n.d.). Compare this to Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. The school is a private, liberal arts-focused, Catholic institution founded by the

Jesuit order and serves nearly 5,000 undergraduates (Saint Joseph’s University, n.d.).

When focusing on the mission and constituencies of the learning assistance programs

available in these universities, the differences seem to be few. At Appalachian State, their

mission to serve the academic support needed for their students. They do specific outreach to

special populations and programming offered is varied and numerous. They have a special

program aimed at supporting and retaining first-generation college students, another aimed at

serving students from the Appalachian area who exhibit financial need (B. O’Rourke, personal

communication, October 27, 2016). The Director of Learning Assistance there, Brady O’Rourke,

indicated that his department is utilized by nearly 1,400 students from a wide range of

demographics and backgrounds (B. O’Rourke, personal communication, October 27, 2016).

At Saint Joseph’s, the mission of The Success Center is similar. While they do not

actively support nearly as many students as happens at Appalachian State, they nonetheless
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 18

respond to and aid specific populations. Dr. Kim Allen-Stuck, the director of the center, indicates

that the students who most chiefly use their services are those with a disability who can be aided

by an accommodation, and the office can be their advocate in obtaining such an accommodation

(K. Allen-Stuck, personal communication, November 14, 2016). They also aid student athletes’

specific needs, as well as implementing various first-year initiatives aimed at connecting first-

year students to their peers, faculty, and staff to maintain retention and student satisfaction (K,

Allen-Stuck, personal communication, November 14, 2016). Both schools offer supplemental

instruction, tutoring services, and academic success coaching and strategy creation and

implementation which is specific to the needs of each individual student.

One area of stark difference is the staffing seen at the universities. While both utilize

similar types of staff, the number of them and their range of responsibilities varies quite

considerably. At Appalachian State, O’Rourke has a full-time professional staff of 12, 18

graduate assistants, 5 learning specialists, and over 150 student tutors (B. O’Rourke, personal

communication, November 14, 2016). Dr. Allen-Stuck at Saint Joseph’s, however, has a full-

time professional staff of 12, no graduate assistants, and 40 supplemental instructors, almost all

of whom are student staff (K. Allen-Stuck, personal communication, November 14, 2017). Given

the amount and differentiation of staff at both schools, the nature of the work they do and the

type of they do differ. What remains constant, however, is their mission to support student

success both inside and outside of the classroom, student retention, and ultimately graduation.

One final area of overlap between the two institutions is their lack of implementation of

the CAS Standards. While the missions, constituencies, and other areas are largely aligned with

much of what the Standards outline, both Brady O’Rourke at Appalachian State (B. O’Rourke,

personal communication, October 27, 2016) and Kim Allen-Stuck at Saint Joseph’s (K. Allen-
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 19

Stuck, personal communication, November 14, 2016) confirmed that neither of their offices

active use the CAS Standards. This applies to their formal mission, their collaborators, the

programming they offer, and the resources—conventions, workshops, literature, etc.—they use.

Conclusion

Arendale’s history of learning assistance in higher education helps bring context to the

CAS Standards and professional insight of the industry as it currently exists. This period of

learning assistance is challenged by the extensive use of developmental and remedial education

resources that many schools offer. Difficulties in the stigma surrounding such utilization has

presented professional staff with roadblocks to actively reaching the students who could best use

their help.

The inclusion of faculty and the collaboration between faculty and learning assistance

staff can be invaluable to access these students in particular and all students generally. As more

schools move to “teaching and learning models,” there creates a greater ability to “assist student

learning and faculty development” (Arendale, 2010a, p 31). This collaborate effort helps place

the work that current professionals are doing and the Standards by which many offices center in

even greater context.

Learning Assistance Programs has been a vital and necessary part of higher education in

the United States for hundreds of years. The students served has broadened, and so too has the

amount and variations of services offered. But what has largely remained—though varying in

scope—is the commitment to students’ learning. Though challenges remain and will continue—

and they will undoubtedly change and shift—the need for this functional area is clear and

incalculable.
LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 20

References

American College Personnel Association. (n.d.). Commission for Academic Support in Higher

Education. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.myacpa.org/commashe

Appalachian State University. (n.d.). Learning Assistance Program. Retrieved November 17,

2016, from https://lap.appstate.edu/

Arendale, D. (2010). History of learning assistance in U.S. postsecondary education. ASHE

Higher Education Report, 35(6), 23-35.

Arendale, D. (2010). Current challenges and controversies for learning assistance. ASHE Higher

Education Report, 35(6), 7-22.

Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations. (n.d.). Home page.

Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.cladea.net/

Dvorak, J. (2004). Managing tutoring aspects of the learning assistance center. Research for

Educational Reform, 9(4), 39-51.

Saint Joseph's University. (n.d.). The Success Center. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from

https://sites.sju.edu/thesuccesscenter/