Welcome to the CAVE!
In support of the mission of Saint Leo University, the Center for Academic Vision & Excellence seeks to provide students with services and programs that serve as building blocks for academic success.
The Center for Academic Vision & Excellence offers academic resources, workshops, classroom presentations, paper reviews, peer-assisted learning (PAL) coaching, peer tutoring, faculty supported Directed Learning Activities (DLA), peer-led - Supplemental Instruction (SI), computers, limited academic printing, and indoor and outdoor study areas. Come check us out on the 1st floor of Kirk Hall.
Our Mission
- Promote a positive academic community
- Assist students in meeting their educational goals
- Assist students in understanding academic planning
- Encourage students to become independent learners
- Impact students success and retention rates
- Uphold the university's standards for academic excellence
- Build relationships between students, staff, and faculty
Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) Coaching
PAL Coaches encourage students (their mentees) growth in academic awareness and self-direction by introducing strategies and skills that prepare students for overcoming academic challenges.
Academic coaching is designed to assist and support students with planning, assessing and managing their academics by teaching strategies and skills that will help students become more effective, self-directed learners. 30 or 50-minute sessions are available by appointment with our Academic Coach or one of our Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) coaches.
Want to meet with an academic coach? sign into the My Saint Leo Portal. Once you are in the portal, under Online Services select Courses. Under Select a Course, choose the Center for Academic Vision & Excellence page and click Accudemia.
The academic coaching team CAN:
- Teach strategies to improve time management and organization.
- Teach strategies to improve reading, studying and note-taking skills.
- Teach active reading and listening skills.
- Assess student needs to identify strengths and weaknesses related to learning and study strategies.
- Advise and support students in preparing for tests, along with memory strategies.
- Support and assist ESL/EFL students in English language development.*
*Please schedule an appointment with the academic coach.
The academic coaching team CANNOT:
- Assist with exams or quizzes.
- Assist with homework assignments.
- Explain every aspect of your assigned reading.
- Copyedit, or proofread, your paper.
Please note that individual coaching sessions are designed to supplement what you are learning in class. It is the student’s responsibility to attend class, meet with your professor, take notes, read the books/handouts, and study course materials.
Peer Tutoring
Tutoring is a "student centered" activity, as such, tutors provide individual and/or group tutoring to students across a broad range of course. Tutors meet with students on a short or long term during the academic year.
Working with a tutor can be an effective means to supplement your understanding of a course. The CAVE offers free tutoring in a variety of subjects for students of all ability levels. No appointment is necessary; simply drop-in, get assistance, and leave when you are done. Please come prepared with specific questions so the tutor can best assist you.
By working with a tutor, you can discuss ideas and clarify concepts, review notes and readings, check and confirm your understanding before a test or quiz, get assistance on homework questions, or make sure you're keeping up with the class. The tutor's goal is to help you become a better student, whether your goal is to raise a B+ to an A or to pass a difficult general education requirement.
Tutors CAN:
- Discuss ideas and clarify concepts.
- Review notes and readings.
- Check and confirm your understanding before a test or quiz.
- Assist with questions to help you complete homework independently.
- Make sure you are studying properly and using learning strategies that work for you.
- Point out grammar and punctuation errors and suggest corrections.
Tutors CANNOT:
- Assist with exams or quizzes.
- Assist with homework assignments.
- Explain every aspect of your assigned reading.
- Copyedit, or proofread, your paper.
Please note that tutor sessions are designed to supplement what you are learning in class. It is the student’s responsibility to attend class, meet with your professor, take notes, read the books/handouts, and study course materials.
Supplemental Instruction (SI)
Want to sharpen your study skills and improve your understanding of difficult course material? Research shows that 1 hour of SI is more effective than 2 hours studying by yourself. Additionally, students who consistently participate in SI sessions receive, on average, one-half to a whole letter grade higher than students enrolled in the same course who do not attend SI sessions – you can’t afford NOT to come!
Definition
SI is a voluntary and free academic assistance program that uses peer-led study groups to help students in traditionally difficult courses.
Purpose
By attending SI sessions on a regular basis, chances are you will:
- Earn a better grade
- Better understand course material
- Teach and learn from your classmates
- Develop effective study skills that can be applied to other classes
How SI Works
Most of SI Leaders are junior and senior students who have successfully completed the courses they are assigned to. They attend every class meeting and plan and implement sessions based on the most recent course material. They possess and demonstrate effective study skills and help students maximize their potential for their academic success.
Leaders sit in designated classes with students for the full semester and take lecture notes. SI Leaders facilitate a series of weekly review sessions covering the course content, exam review and preparation as well as assisting students in developing effective study strategies. These group sessions are free and open to all students at all levels of academic achievement who are part of SI-supported courses.
Definition
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic assistance program that utilizes peer-assisted study sessions. SI sessions are regularly scheduled, informal review sessions in which students compare notes, discuss readings, develop organizational tools, and predict test items. Students learn how to integrate course content and study skills while working together. The sessions are facilitated by SI leaders, students who have previously done well in the course and who attend all class lectures, take notes, and act as model students.
Purpose
- to increase retention within targeted historically difficult courses
- to improve student grades in targeted historically difficult courses
- to increase the graduation rates of students
Participants
SI is a free service offered to all students in a targeted course. SI is a non-remedial approach to learning as the program targets high-risk courses rather than high-risk students. All students are encouraged to attend SI sessions, as it is a voluntary program. Students with varying levels of academic preparedness and diverse ethnicities participate. There is no remedial stigma attached to SI since the program targets high-risk courses rather than high-risk students.
How SI Works
SI is completely maintained and coordinated through the Center for Academic Vision & Excellence. All we ask of faculty in SI-supported classes is that they provide the following:
- A few minutes at the beginning of class for the SI Leader to make weekly announcements.
- Time to meet with the SI Leader, allowing him/her to keep faculty apprised of what’s happening in the SI sessions and share any practice/study aids.
- The addition of SI information to the course site and/or syllabus.
We encourage referrals! Courses have the greatest chance of offering SI support when a student is identified as a potential candidate in the preceding semester. Faculty recommendations are our most important and valuable source of applicants.
Syllabus Statements
Are you willing to market our free services by including them in your syllabus? We want to make it easier for you to include information for us, so we've prepared statements for you to use.
Drop-In CAVE Tutoring Syllabus Statement
This course is supported by tutors from the Center for Academic Vision & Excellence. Our tutors have completed this course, and they understand the concepts well enough to help you work through questions you have. Our tutors are trained to share learning and study strategies during tutorial sessions. While tutors will not complete/correct homework for you or help you on take-home tests or quizzes, they will help you understand and reinforce concepts that you are learning in your classes.
Supplemental Instruction Syllabus Statement
This course is supported by Supplemental Instruction (SI), a program designed to offer you additional resources for learning course content and developing study strategies. The purpose of SI is to create a collaborative learning environment where students share in the process of teaching one another in a study-group setting. An optional SI session will be held weekly (times and locations will be determined later; announcements will be made in class or on Courses). Each session will be led by our course’s designated SI leader (a current SLU student who has had prior success in this course). During the sessions, the SI leader will present activities (developed by him/her) in an effort to reinforce content taught in the lecture. Occasional test reviews will also be offered. The SI leader will NOT give answers to homework questions, but he/she will prepare meaningful activities and share strategies for learning course material and succeeding in the class.
Tutor.com
Tutor.com is another tutoring service that Saint Leo University provides to students. Students can access tutor.com by logging into Courses, select Learning Tools, and select Tutoring services. If students run out of minutes, they need to email student.success@saintleo.edu.
Please note that the CAVE will be suspending printing services until further notice. Please visit the Cannon Memorial Library for printing needs. The CAVE’s computer lab will still be open for use.
Additional Resources
CAVE Location & Hours
The CAVE is located on the 1st Floor of Kirk Hall (University Campus).
Mon-Thu | 8:00am - 9:00pm
Friday | 8:00am - 5:00pm
Printing Services
Please note that the CAVE will be suspending printing services until further notice. Please visit the Cannon Memorial Library for printing needs. The CAVE’s computer lab will still be open for use.
Please email the CAVE at cave@saintleo.edu if you have any questions about these changes.
Learn more about Project Responsible Printing