STARS becomes Center for Academic Success
Lamar University’s Student Tutoring and Retention Services, known as STARS, as been renamed the Center for Academic Success, reflecting a broader focus on student support beyond traditional tutoring services, Marla Singleton, assistant director of academic supports, said.
CAS offers tutoring, academic coaching, supplemental instruction and workshops, while also supporting first-year, transfer and foster care experienced students, Singleton said.
“The name STARS didn’t really express who we really are and what we really do,” Singleton said.
The new name also places Lamar’s center alongside similar academic support programs at other universities.
“It aligns with the other universities,” Singleton said. “Everyone knows what we do.”
Ashley Thibodeaux, assistant director of academic enrichment, said the department has grown significantly from what students may have previously associated with STARS.
“We really wanted to change the name to fit what was going to be an extended part of those services,” Thibodeaux said. “That’s where academic enrichment comes in.”
One of the areas that is changed is the First-Year Success program, formerly Cardinal Communities. Cardinal Communities placed students into groups based on shared majors or interests and connected them with peer mentors.
“We want you to be set up for success so you can persist here at Lamar University and then go on to graduate in the four to six years,” Thibodeaux said.
CAS now works with students beyond their first year at Lamar. Transfer students are among the groups receiving additional attention through peer mentorship and campus connections.
“They already know what they want, but they just really need to be more acclimated on our campus specifically, because they chose Lamar for a reason,” Thibodeaux said.
Singleton said information gathered through tutoring and academic coaching showed that some students who performed well before transferring struggled after arriving at Lamar.
“We’d have these students that would transfer here, and they were doing really well at the school they were at,” Singleton said. “They come here, and they just fell through the floor. We need to help them.”
Another area of focus is students with foster care experience, including those who have aged out of the system, been adopted, or lived in multiple foster homes. CAS works to connect those students with resources that can help them navigate college, Thibodeaux said.
One of the center’s priorities is making sure students seek assistance before academic challenges become more difficult to manage, Thibodeaux said.
“My go-to motto, when I explain to students what our services do, is, ‘Don’t suffer in silence,’” she said. “We are here because of our students, not the other way around.”
CAS also updated its website with the redesigned pages including information about individual programs, as well as links for students seeking tutoring or academic coaching.
Students may receive support through the center’s main tutoring location in 140 Galloway Business Building, as well as subject-specific tutoring locations across campus.
“We are here to support students,” Singleton said. “That encompasses everything, and it really is at the core of what we do.”
Singleton said she recommends students schedule an appointment for tutoring, academic coaching or other available services.
For more information, visit lamar.edu/center-for-academic-success.