Academic Support Services

The Academic Success Center

The Academic Success Center consists of the following units: academic advising, first year programs, and tutorial services.

Academic Advising Center (AAC)

The primary purpose of the Academic Advising Center (AAC) is to provide services for the enhancement of student personal, academic and professional success. The Academic Advising Center will support students by managing quality academic advising services, tutorial assistance and skills development activities. The AAC will provide leadership for faculty and staff to assist students to gain self-confidence, to promote positive learning attitudes and to develop academic maturity. The AAC will provide academic advising for undecided students, serve as a secondary advising resource for students who have declared a major and provide exceptional tutorial services.

Tutorial Services

Our tutorial services component offers reinforcement and tutorial assistance in English composition, mathematics, science, and the humanities. This support program also includes academic counseling services and a professional staff that supports the academic programs of the University. Students who experience difficulty in their courses are encouraged to seek assistance from the Center. The curriculum is based upon the status of the students’ learning experiences or needs, language and behavioral patterns and self-image. Other courses for tutorial assistance are added in response to the students’ needs and demands.

First Year Programs

The mission of First Year Programs is to provide services and programs to help facilitate the successful transition to the college campus for first-year and transfer students. The goals of First Year Programs are:

(1) to introduce students to university student support services and campus resources, such that transition to the college environment will be a positive experience; (2) to help facilitate student adjustments and choices to challenges related to the intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic components of student life by providing appropriate information; and finally (3) to provide opportunities for students to experience academic success at Shaw University.

The First Year Programs are intended to be a positive experience and most importantly, it promotes Shaw University’s Motto, Pro Christo et Humanitate (For Christ and Humanity).

As part of the University’s emphasis on ethics, values, and character building, worship at the Thomas J. Boyd Chapel is designed to strengthen the spiritual dimension of character development throughout the campus community. It is with this in mind that student, staff and faculty attendance is strongly encouraged at weekly Cultural Academic and Spiritual Enrichment Seminars (CASES). Attendance at CASES by Raleigh Day first year and transfer students is mandated by University policy. This policy does not apply to first year students in the CAPE program.

CASES is an FYS 101, OSU 121, and graduation requirement.

Students must complete CASES. Attendance is taken at every session. First year students must attend ID CASES during their first year seminar. Excused absences must be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs and forwarded to the First Year Program Director. The program begins the semester that the student enters the University.

Male Attire: Males must wear a navy blazer (with Shaw University Crest), gray slacks, white button-down shirt, burgundy Shaw tie, and dress shoes.

Female Attire: Females must wear a navy blazer (with Shaw University Crest), gray skirt or dress slacks and white blouse, Shaw scarf, and dress shoes.

Proper attire must be worn to receive credit for attendance.

All first year Raleigh day students, whether living on or off campus, are required to complete one year of CASES. All transfer students are required to attend one semester of CASES, as part of their OSU 121  orientation to Shaw requirement.

Students who have not fulfilled all requirements for the First Year Programs:

Will not be certified for graduation
Will not be allowed to run for an elected office
Will not be allowed to serve as a First Year Peer Mentor nor a Residence Advisor (RA)
Will not be allowed to pledge, participate in fraternity or sorority membership intake processes

In addition to mandatory CASES, there are mandatory university activities held for freshmen throughout the school year. These include but are not limited to, the following: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Program in January, Religious Emphasis Week in February, University Awards Day in April, Fall Convocation in September, The Academic Majors Fair, First Year Workshops, The Bessie Boyd-Holman Lecture Series in Ethics and Values in October, Founder’s Day/Homecoming Convocation in October.

First Year Programs’ Course Requirements

All freshmen are required to successfully complete the First Year Seminar (FYS 101 ) and CASES events. Transfer students are required to successfully complete one semester of Orientation at Shaw University (OSU 121 ). Transfer students should register for and attend OSU 121  their first semester at the University. Credit for CASES attendance represents up to twenty five (25) percent of the grade for First Year Seminar and Orientation to Shaw University.

Ethics

Shaw University exists to advance knowledge, facilitate students learning and achievement, to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of its students, and to transform a diverse community of learners into future global leaders, adding value to the quality of life. Hence, within a liberal arts framework, the “Ethics and Value Thrust” of Shaw University aims to prepare future leaders for success in their major field of study and ensuring vocation with demonstrated knowledge, skills, and values of reflective moral reasoning and action contributing to the quality of life.

The “Ethics and Value Thrust” is infused into the University core curriculum. As discussed in the “course descriptions” of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, the course is:

In addition to this course, students, faculty and staff, and the general public are encouraged to participate in the Bessie Boyd-Holman Lecture Series, the Annual Religious Emphasis Week Observance, and the Cultural Academic and Spiritual Enrichment Seminars (CASES).