The keys to academic success for Project EXCEL students are the excellence of the academic programs, the faculty at the Mount, and the coordinated advising plan which is an integral element of the EXCEL program. Career exploration and guidance, service learning opportunities coordinated with academic courses, and professional development in preparation for participating in cooperative education are all available through the Mount's Career and Experiential Education Center.
The following program elements support student growth:
Professional Tutors
Professional tutors, who have skills in content areas and experience working with post-secondary students with special learning needs, provide academic tutoring related to each student’s course of studies.
Student Progress
Regular monitoring of performance and progress provides an important academic support for Project EXCEL students. Instructors complete progress reports for every student during the 5th week of the semester. Progress reports may be sent again during the 10th week of the semester if the Project EXCEL staff, the student, or the instructor feels close monitoring of a particular class would be beneficial. Development of a plan of action results, if necessary, through a collaboration involving Project EXCEL administration, student, tutor, and instructor.
Organization & Time Management Skills
All freshmen attend weekly individual time management and organization sessions with Project EXCEL staff. These sessions focus on goal setting, prioritizing, organization, and study techniques. Schedules, calendars and a number of time management tools are discussed and utilized.
Writing Lab
The Writing Lab is a remedial lab for students participating in the EXCEL program who have a weakness in written language. The Writing Lab offers remedial instruction as well as academic support to students who need assistance with the writing process. Remediation is combined with specific class assignments. The role of the Writing Lab tutors is that of facilitator, rather than editor.
The student first works with an academic tutor for understanding of the subject matter and then proceeds to the Writing Lab.
The writing tutors build on the student’s writing skill strengths. The tutors diagnose particular writing problems and explain concepts or rules that correct the problems.
When working on a particular assignment, a student learns how to edit his / her own paper. The student looks for content, organization, logic, and major grammatical flaws within the paper.
Technology
Students are given the opportunity to learn about and incorporate technology into their academic tool boxes. Project EXCEL houses cutting edge innovations including Dragon Naturally Speaking (a dictation software program that allows students to dictate their papers instead of typing them) and Kurzweil, computer software that reads scanned texts out loud to promote better comprehension of reading material. Instruction in using these technologies is available.
NOTE: Students must be admitted to the College of Mount St. Joseph before applying for Project EXCEL.