Janet Pinkham of the Hope College staff has been promoted to director of the college's Academic Support Center.
Janet Pinkham of the Hope College staff has been promoted to director of the college's Academic Support Center.
She succeeds Jacqueline Heisler, who has retired after working at Hope since 1982.
Pinkham has been tutoring coordinator with the center since 1992, and as an adjunct member of the college's communication faculty has also been teaching freshman-level First-Year Seminar courses. From 1989 to 1992 she was the college's alumni director.
She graduated from Hope in 1984 with majors in German and communication, and completed a master's degree in organizational communication at the University of Kansas in 1987. Prior to joining the Hope staff she had held positions with Manpower of Southeast Michigan and Avefuel Corporation in Ann Arbor.
The Academic Support Center works with students who desire assistance in their transition to college and helps them improve their study habits, learning skills and class performance. In addition to Pinkham, the center's staff includes David James, director of the writing center; Jeanne Lindell, coordinator of academic support services for students with disabilities; Lisa Lampen, office manager; and many student tutors.
The center works with students individually or in small groups. Its services include trained peer tutors available to assist in most introductory courses; assistance in the organization and development of papers and the mechanics of writing; a walk-in mathematics lab; and small-group help sessions. Students may schedule individual appointments concerning time management, notetaking, textbook reading and studying, and test preparation, and the center also assists students with special needs or diagnosed learning disabilities.