AEC Community Engagement

We are proud to showcase our collaborations, outreach, and representation across the URI campus and beyond!


Fall 2022:

  • Melanie Ok and Katie Hampston joined the AEC team as the Graduate Program Assistant and Undergraduate Program Assistant. 
  • AEC Student Employees completed the Safe Zone training program through URI’s Gender and Sexuality Center in November 2022. We are proud to have our staff Safe Zone trained and able to complete any advanced Safe Zone tracks.
  • David Hayes collaborated with the Talent Development program to support scholar achievement through academic strategic planning, strategic course enrollment, and outreach.
  • In celebration of National Day on Writing on October 20th, Undergraduate Writing Center staff hosted a day of Wordle in the Writing Center. We hosted over 130 students and completed 71 games of Wordle!
  • David Hayes delivered tutoring a workshop to College of Pharmacy honor society peer tutors.
  • AEC continued its partnership with College of Nursing to support Pathways to Nursing students through presentations and workshops. 
  • Heather Price invited Brandon Sousa from CCEE to lead a CliftonStrengths workshop in WRT 353: Writing Center Theory & Practice for students training to be writing consultants
  • Heather Price collaborated with Dr. Andy Simmons, Director of the Pre-Health Professions Advising Program, to co-lead a personal essay writing workshop for URI seniors and recent grads applying to medical, dental, optometry, and other health profession training programs at the doctoral or masters level.
  • Provided course content and instructor support in a cohort-specific section of UCS 160 in collaboration with DAI, for neurodivergent students in DAI’s START program
  • Collaborated with ATL to develop and co-facilitate faculty Community of Practice focusing on teaching metacognitive skills development and scaffolding student learning 
  • Collaborated with the School of Education faculty to create a permanent UCS 161 course

Summer 2022

  • The AEC welcomed new students and families at URI Orientation throughout the month of June!
  • The STEM & Business Tutoring program upgraded from TutorTrac 4.0 to Redrock Software’s new TracCloud system! The new management system provides an easier interface for students to search for tutor availability and for our AEC staff to report on all facets of our program’s data.

Spring 2022:

  • Our new Drop-In Center opened on the lower level of the Carothers Library, room LL4! This newly renovated space allows students to visit for drop-in STEM & Business tutoring as well as academic consultations with Peer Academic Consultants.
  • The AEC collaborated with the Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning to create a student/faculty dialogue on the topic of COVID-related changes in academics, focusing on what has helped learners and is worth carrying forward into fall 2022. 
  • Our Academic Skills program collaborated with URI 101 on the creation of a 20 minute video presentation, Four Foolproof Study Strategies (and How to Know They are Working). 
  • The AEC hosted the UCAS Spring Branding Event for April. Led by Heather and Andrei on the UCAS Branding Committee and staffed by the whole AEC, we invited students to play our “AEC Prize Drop” outside Roosevelt Hall to win URI swag. Students enjoyed donuts and filled our rolling whiteboard with index cards contributing their best writing and study tips for getting through finals!
  • Dr. Hayes collaborated with Dr. Diane Kern, Interim Director of the Harrington School of Education, to create and propose a course titled UCS 161: Self-directed Learning In College.
  • Ashley Tai, Junior Lead Biology Tutor, wins the URI Rainville Student Employee Excellence award! 

Fall 2021:

  • Ceileidh Kung & Andrei Dinoro attended the National College Learning Center Association annual conference in September 2021, representing URI and the AEC. 
  • The AEC partnered with the Center for Career and Experiential Education to provide a Career Bootcamp for AEC student employees in October 2021. 
  • The AEC staff presented to tour guides in October 2021 on updated AEC services. 
  • The National Day on Writing took place on October 20th, 2021 with tons of activities and games in the Writing Center! AEC staff took turns hosting stations such as creating word bracelets, creating word collages, and playing Linguistic Taboo.
  • Seth Ulricksen and Stephen Cote joined the AEC team as part-time drop-in center supervisors in October 2021!
  • The Writing Center collaborated with Pre-Health Professions Advising staff on essay-building workshops for students and recent grads applying to Professional Health programs in November and December 2021.
  • Jeff Ulricksen assisted the AEC in securing furniture for our new library drop-in center space. Thank you so much, Jeff!
  • The AEC developed and facilitated tutor training workshops for tutors and teaching assistants from Chemistry, Pharmacy, Physics, Statistics, Business, and Nutrition and Dietetics. 
  • David Hayes collaborated with the URI Graduate School in developing a Graduate Student Academic Consultant position, Dr. Hayes worked with Cara Mitnick to create the position and recruit, hire, and train a consultant. 
  • David Hayes also continued his work with the Graduate School’s Diversity and Inclusion Badge Program, offering workshops on White antiracist allyship. 
  • Jennifer Burgess and David Hayes collaborated with partners from Transfer Resources, New Student Programs, Finish What you Started, Veterans Affairs, and the Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies to create and co-teach a new course, UCS/SPC 305, to help address the academic skills and career development needs of non-traditional returning students. 
  • The AEC’s Academic Skills Development Program offered study and test-taking strategies workshops to various LLCs and to students in the College of Nursing. 

Summer 2021:

  •  Our new AEC library drop-in space was created! Thank you to Celeste DiCesare, Karim Boughida, and the rest of the library staff for assisting the AEC in setting up the new library drop-in center space.
  • Heather Price and Writing Center consultants presented to the Writing Across URI – Advancement of Teaching and Learning teaching seminar in June 2021.
  • Heather Price and Writing Center consultants presented to all UCS 160 classes during the Talent Development Summer Program in August 2021.
  • David Hayes, Jennifer Burgess, and Heather Price completed ATL’s Online Pedagogy Competency Course in June 2021.

Spring 2021:

  • Andrei Dinoro joined the AEC team as the Assistant Coordinator of STEM Tutoring in January 2021!
  • Erica Cassidy conducted StrengthsQuest training for the AEC full-time staff team in January 2021.
  • Jennifer Burgess and Heather Price presented to the URI Arts & Sciences regarding AEC services in February 2021.
  • AEC student employees completed a modified version of the Community, Equity and Diversity Social Justice & Inclusion Microcredential with Joanna Ravello in March 2021.
  • Two AEC STEM tutors, Lila Berle and Jewel Voyer, presented at the New England Peer Tutoring Association conference in March 2021.
  • The Writing Center collaborated with Pre-Health Professions Advising staff on essay-building workshops for students and recent grads applying to Professional Health programs in February 2021.
  • Heather Price participated in the URI Graduate School Writing Center Career Roundtable: Have You Considered a Career as a University Writing Specialist? in May 2021.

Fall 2020

  • The AEC was published in The Learning Assistance Review! URI’s Academic Enhancement Center Spotlighted in National Journal for Adaptability During COVID-19
  • Ashley Foley, Lisa Kuosmanen, and Erin Frates- A huge thank you to Ashley and Lisa for planning and facilitating a virtual Career Bootcamp event for our STEM student employees! We love that our team was able to ask questions about resumes, relationship building, and hear career advice from the CCEE experts and a former tutor (shout-out to Erin!).
  • Cohort meetings- Our tutor cohort meetings included faculty guest speakers this spring from the Biology, Math, Chemisty and Physics departments. Thank you to Dr. Dewsbury, Dr. Adams, Dr. Moseman-Valtierra, Dr. Comerford, Dr. Graham, Dr. McGregor, Dr. Antosh and Adam Vanasse! Our tutors loved meeting with you and we hope to see you in more cohort meetings soon!
  • Alix Moffat- Thank you to Alix for collaborating with the AEC STEM tutors to provide learning support information to the Nursing Living and Learning Communities. Our tutors were able to attend the virtual event and promote the AEC services!
  • John Rooney- Thank you to John for providing AEC services information to URI transfer students and helping the AEC connect with this important population!
  • Deborah Bergner and Amanda Downey- The AEC staff enjoyed taking part in RAM training in August. We also would like to thank Deborah and Amanda for distributing AEC flyers across residence halls!

Summer 2020

  • Summer Sessions- We would like to thank John Olerio and Nicole Cook for promoting the AEC’s summer services, including STEM tutoring sessions, Writing Center consultations, and academic skills consultations. Thank you for helping connect URI students with our academic services this summer!
  • Talent Development- STEM Tutoring would like to recognize our continued partnership with the Talent Development team and collaboration with TutorTrac for the TD Summer Success Program. Through this collaboration, the AEC proudly assisted Talent Development in facilitating over 3,000 tutorial visits for scholars!
  • Disability Services for Students- The AEC team joined forces with the DSS team for a mini-retreat this summer to discuss & implement new best practices for mutually supporting students. We are so thankful for their continued partnership and look forward to utilizing these new strategies this fall. 
  • Jake Clemen- Thank you to Jake for creating a new Starfish flag for the STEM Tutoring team. By utilizing this flag, we are better able to engage each student’s support network and share real-time information. 

Spring 2020

  • Bob Viens- We are so appreciative of Bob taking the time to present a WebEx training with the AEC staff, as well as all of University College, to help transition our services online this semester.
  • Faculty cohort inclusion- Our tutor cohort meetings included faculty guest speakers this spring from the Math, Chemisty and Physics departments. Dr. Comerford, Dr. Graham, Dr. McGregor and Dr. Antosh all had the opportunity to meet our tutors to discuss best practices, answer content questions and how to best support our students. Our tutors loved these meetings and appreciated the guest speakers making time to be there!
  • Faculty Senate- Our new AEC Director, Jennifer Burgess, was invited to present at the Faculty Senate in February on the AEC’s services. We thank the senate members for their questions and ideas and look forward to further collaboration.
  • Chris Pepper and the URI Networking team– We thank Chris and his team for their work in networking and wireless signal improvement on the 4th floor. Our stronger WiFi signal helps us provide the best support to our students.
  • Center for Career and Experiential Education- We thank the CCEE team for providing an informative and fun Professional Development Week. Our STEM tutors attended various events throughout the week and learned so much!
  • Tammy Leso- The STEM Tutoring team worked with Tammy to set up specific math weekly tutoring groups to take place in the Engineering Living Learning Communities (Hutchinson Hall & Peck Hall) during the Spring 2020 semester.

Fall 2019

  • TutorTrac Drive-In Conference- The AEC hosted a drive-in conference consisting of 28 attendees from 9 institutions across the New England area. All invited attendees utilize Redrock Software’s TutorTrac system and the opportunity to get together to discuss our tips, tricks and ideas, as well as tutoring programs, was met with overwhelming positivity.
  • National Day on Writing- The STEM Tutoring team had a blast facilitating activities during the National Day on Writing to support Writing Across URI and the undergraduate Writing Center.
  • Center for Career and Experiential Education- Providing a Career Boot Camp for the AEC student staff.

Summer 2019

  • URI Campus Store- Donation of textbooks.
  • URI IT Staff- Helping to create TutorTrac login for students.
  • Appalachian State University- Providing templates and best practices from their thriving tutoring program.
  • Talent Development- TD Summer program utilizing TutorTrac and SurveyTrac to gather data.
  • Redrock Software- Providing ongoing and amazing TutorTrac support.

Spring 2019

  • Laura Arrighi- Donation of science materials.
  • Jacob Clemen- Starfish/TutorTrac data collaboration.
  • Meredith Gibbons- Tutor training collaboration between athletic tutors and AEC STEM tutors.

Fall 2018

  • Professor Grandidge- Donation of biology equipment.
  • Drs. McGregor and McGregor-Graham- Pre-Service tutor training assistance and donation of chemistry supplies.
  • Dr. Dombi- Tutor training facilitation.