Learning Support

The Learning Support courses provide students with an opportunity to strengthen their skill levels in English, reading and mathematics. Classroom instruction is accompanied by laboratory experiences, tutoring and academic testing as needed. For a description of these courses, see "Student Academic Assistance" under "Course Descriptions".

Students required to enroll in Learning Support courses have demonstrated deficiencies in English, reading, and mathematics as indicated by their performance on the Computer Assisted Adaptive Assessment (COMPASS) test as designated by the University System of Georgia (USG). Scores on the COMPASS test determine placement in Learning Support courses.

Entering students who fall into this category are University College, limited admit, presidential exception and non-traditional students. These students may be required to take one or more of parts of the COMPASS placement test.
 
University College (UC) students are students with pre-college deficiencies who would normally attend a two-year college and then transfer to a state university.

Non-traditional students are students who graduated from high school at least five years or more prior to entering college and/or who have completed up to 15 college credits. These students are exempt from the SAT/ACT admission criteria.
Limited admit students are students who did not meet regular admissions requirements.
Presidential exceptions are recent high school graduates who in rare circumstances are granted admission to the University by the President, and may receive exceptions to the regular admission requirements.

Policies and Requirements:

Students who fail to satisfy either portion of the COMPASS placement examinations must enroll in corresponding Learning Support courses in mathematics, reading and/or English according to the chart below.

Students shall have three semesters or three attempts per area to develop requisite skills. Students who fail to exit one or more courses within the allotted time will be suspended for three semesters or one full academic year from Savannah State University and any other institution within the University System of Georgia.

Students may appeal the suspension, provided they have only one Learning Support area to complete which must be an exit level course, have a class average of at least a “B” or above, and obtain a letter of recommendation from their recent instructor of the course.

If the students fail to pass the course after the appeal, the students may submit a second appeal provided they again meet the criteria for an appeal. If the students' appeal is approved for the second time, they must enroll only in the Learning Support course. If the students fail to exit their Learning Support course after the second appeal, they will be suspended for three semesters.

Any student enrolled in Learning Support courses whose academic standing is less than that which is acceptable by the University are subject to academic suspension even though they may not have exhausted all three attempts.

After a three-year semester suspension, students may apply for readmission, subject to meeting the institution’s requirements. Any student readmitted may choose to be retested on the COMPASS test and placed accordingly in the appropriate courses or the student may re-enroll in the course that they previously failed.

Students may not accumulate more than 30 hours of degree credit before completing their Learning Support requirements. Students who have accumulated 30 credit hours or more and who have not successfully completed the required Learning Support courses may enroll only in their Learning Support classes until the requirements are successfully completed.

Students must access their campus email account to remain connected to their Learning Support advisor to remain abreast of their academic status. Hard copies of letters will not be mailed each semester.
Learning Support courses receive institutional credit only, no degree credit will be awarded.

Students in an exit level (0099) course who maintain a “C” average or better throughout the semester are eligible to sit for the exit examination(s). The score results of the COMPASS exit exam will determine exit from all Learning Support course(s). However, students enrolled in the English 0099 course must pass a Writing Assessment as well as the COMPASS exit exam. Students who earn a passing score on any part of the English post- examination need not retake that part during subsequent semesters.

No students will rewrite the Final Writing Assessment unless documentation supports that the test environment was not conducive to testing. However, students may appeal the Final Writing Assessment, provided that the students’ writing sample received at least one passing rating out of three and that the students maintained an overall class average of “B” or above.
Any student who scores within five points of the minimum passing COMPASS score for a subject area (English, math or reading) are eligible to retest, whether the examination is a placement or exit examination.
The following final grades will be issued:

A student cannot drop/withdraw from a Learning Support (LS) course without withdrawing from the university. If a student withdraws from a learning Support course before mid-semester, his/her entire registration will be cancelled. This practice is to ensure that no LS students earn more than 30 credit hours while he/she is enrolled in LS course(s).

If a student does not report to any LS class before the deadline to report NAs (students who never attended class), the student will be reported as NA to the Registrar, and his/her entire registration will be cancelled.
In order for a student to be assigned a grade of “I%” a student must be in good academic standing and experiencing extenuating circumstances that preclude the student from completing course requirements.

A WF is assigned to a student who stops attending class after mid-semester
A WF is counted as a semester attempt.

Course Restrictions
Any student required to enroll in READ 0099 cannot enroll in college level social, natural, or physical science courses or college-level English until remedial reading requirements have been satisfied. However, a student must still fulfill his or her CPC deficiencies in social science, natural science, etc. Courses used for CPC deficiency do not count as part of the core curriculum.

Any student required to enroll in Mathematics 0099 cannot enroll in college level mathematics, physics, chemistry, or any science courses with a prerequisite of college-level mathematics until remedial mathematics requirements have been satisfied.

Any student required to enroll in ENGL 0099 cannot enroll in college-level English.
These restrictions mean that “provisional admit” students are not guaranteed a full class load as may be required to qualify for some forms of financial aid.

All students enrolled in Learning Support courses are advised by professional advisors in UC/CAS. Students who have declared majors and placed in Learning Support courses transfer to the college that offers their majors upon completion of their Learning Support courses.

University College students are advised by professional academic advisors in UC/CAS until they complete their Learning Support requirements and accumulate 30 hours of college credit and a minimum 2.0 grade point average. Upon completion, they transfer to the academic college that offers their major.

Learning Support Faculty
Rosalind Kent, Faculty Advisor and Assistant Professor Reading
Whiting Hall, Room 265
912-358-3494
Kentr@savannahstate.edu

Yvonne Warren, Assistant Professor, English
Whiting Hall, Room 262
912-358-3473
Warreny@savannahstate.edu

Vivien Harris- Murphy, Instructor, English and Reading
Whiting Hall, Room 264
912-358-3493
Murphyv@savannahstate.edu

Dr. Jack Albertson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Whiting Hall, Room 249

912-358-4478

albertsonj@savannahstate.edu

Phat Hong, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Whiting Hall, Room 266

912-358-3495