Written by Erin Speed
Photo by Danielle “Didi” Doran
What exactly goes on behind the doors of the Academic Resource Center?
Exclusive interviews with Angie Sims, Bruce Morgan, and Alex Staup reveal not only the technical functions of the center at Bryan College, but how the keen eyes of its staff members observe more than students may initially think.
When it comes to checking in on students, freshmen are at the top of the list. Angie Sims, the First Year Academic Advisor, often finds herself handling the needs of 150 freshmen students within the span of a couple of weeks. According to each student’s ECT scores, GPA, and high school transcripts, she is the one who gets everyone into their respective classes and makes sure they can transition as smoothly as possible into life at Bryan College.
Despite the chaos, Ms. Angie flourishes in this environment. Before working at Bryan, she ran a girls and boys club, where she handled not only 15-16 staff members under her leadership, but up to 400 children between the ages of 6-18 years old. After wielding a club of that size for 20 years, life on Bryan College campus is “a walk in the park” by comparison, and she loves her job here.
One of her favorite aspects is her open-door policy, “…where the students can come to me and talk about anything.” She welcomes anyone into her office to share their thoughts with her—not just about grades and classes, but everything in between. “From their grades to their homelife to their roommate to their sport to their spiritual life with God… I love coming to work and not knowing who’s going to come and what they’re going to say, and enjoying life with them.”
Freshmen aren’t the only ones who need help and encouragement. While tutoring is available to anyone to utilize, Ms. Angie points out that some students have much less time than others on campus. “The athletes have a very busy, busy schedule. They are pulled from sunup to sundown, with traveling to this and there, and they are trying to study on the bus as they are trying to get to Georgia or Virginia or wherever they go… I wish we had a resource so that they could come and get some help.”
International students are also a point of concern for the ARC, since on top of having to adjust to college life, they must adjust to life in America as well. Bruce Morgan runs the Mosaic program, where he helps mentor ethnic minority students, international students, and commuters. On top of hanging out with students working in the ARC, he enjoys running a men’s Bible study and watching young men grow through the study of God’s Word.
Mr. Morgan wants the Arc to be a place of support not just for minority students, but for everyone, a “good space… I think some stools and chairs could be more comfortable, but [chuckles], y’know, I think overall it’s a really good place for people who want to study or just hang out.”
The one thing all the staff members agree on is more students should take advantage of the ARC’s tutoring system. With the tutors being active students who know exactly what classes are being taken and how to help out, even a short visit can take away a lot of anxiety about a paper or a test that a student may feel unsure about.
Mr. Morgan emphasized that tutoring isn’t something for “slower” students. “…There are very intelligent people who come in here and utilize the tutoring, and I think more people should be utilizing it. Y’know, it’s not a stigma to say, ‘Hey, can you help me review this paper?’, and ‘I’m not really understanding this math assignment here’, and ‘I need some help.’”
On this subject Ms. Angie adds, “I think it would… help [the students] free up themselves so that they could enjoy the academic life, because… a lot of them are struggling, because high school did not set them up for a college curriculum… And if you use your resources here… I think it’ll help you [not only] get better grades, [but make it so that] you can go to Pocket Wilderness, the mountains… You can enjoy your life a little bit better, instead of just having your head buried in the book.”
Alex Staup, the Director of Student Success, wants to negate any rumors there may be about people who come to the ARC for help. “It seems like a lot of people think ‘only the dumb kids get tutoring’, and that’s just not the case. Very consistently we see our brightest students leaning on tutoring, because those bright students know that the extra support is there for them and can help them get ahead.”
Mr. Staup described the role of the ARC in students’ lives being like a tandem bicycle. “The person in front has a lot of authority over the bike, from where they go to how fast they go, or if they decide to go off a cliff… [laughs] The person in the backseat doesn’t have as much control. They can offer support, they can play their part, but [ultimately all they can do is keep the momentum going]. I always encourage my team that we want to be good company for students and to sit in the front seat, and steer where they go. We want to be a place where students can feel comfortable.”
Ultimately, each staff member of the ARC wholeheartedly welcomes any and all students to stop by, whether it’s to get help or to chat for a little while. Mr. Staup says to everyone on Bryan College campus, “Our doors are open, we’re here to support, and we want to be here for students to ride those tandem bicycles together.”
