leadership, mentoring & study skills

UNT provides programs that will help you learn how to study, address academic problems and develop your leadership skills. UNT can also connect you with a mentor who can give you advice about college and about your future.

Study skills

The Learning Center is a dynamic network of academic and student support partners with the goal to assist students in achieving academic success. The programs and partnerships include:

• Reading and Study Skills Lab - a non-credit course that develops academic skills such as textbook reading, studying, note taking, test taking, goal setting and time management.
• Speed Reading - helps improve reading rate while maintaining or improving comprehension.
• Supplemental Instruction and Supplemental Tutoring - free peer tutoring in difficult courses. Students meet in small, directed groups to discuss and clarify class material.
• Volunteer Tutors - outstanding UNT students help students with lower-level courses.
• Connecting for Success - links students to other academic support and resources throughout the university to help with specific academic problems.
• Online Tutoring - free, interactive tutoring.
• Academic Resource Library - books, videos and computer-assisted instruction, including preparation for graduate school admissions exams, TOEFL, CLEP and THEA.

Discovery

The Discovery program is designed to help undergraduate students meet the challenges of college. The program provides free tutoring and academic, career and personal counseling for selected students until they graduate from UNT. To qualify for Discovery, you must:

• have parents or guardians who do not have four-year college degrees
• show economic need as determined by the U.S. Department of Education or have a physical disability or a learning disability
• an academic need for services as defined by federal guidelines
• be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident

If you qualify for Discovery, you will take a study skills assessment test and will receive information on the financial aid available at UNT. Meeting with tutors or study groups, you will learn how to study effectively and how to overcome test anxiety. Subject areas include business, computers, economics, English, government, history, languages, mathematics, sciences and statistics. You will have access to the program's mathematics and writing labs, a state-of-the-art computer lab and study rooms in the Discovery office. The office also has many books on careers and study skills.

Many Discovery students say the program offers them a sense of community on campus. Discovery provides several social events each year for its students including a recognition ceremony to honor its students each spring.

Leadership

The university offers Eagle Leadership Programs that are open to all students on campus. The office provides a variety of services, programs and events to help students develop leadership.

The office also offers one-day training through the North Texas Leadership Conference that includes the opportunity to network with current student leaders and university officials in break-out sessions.

In addition to leadership training, you can develop your leadership skills through volunteering. The Volunteer Center maintains a database of community groups that are looking for volunteers. After you complete a questionnaire, the center carefully matches your goals and interests to several volunteer opportunities in the community that you can choose from.

Community service and leadership development is a core value of Greek life. You may consider getting involved in any number of Greek organizations on campus for leadership development. The Volunteer Center is in the University Union, Room 430, or call 940-565-3021.

When you graduate, UNT offers the E.A.G.L.E. (Evidence of Achievement Guided by Leadership Experience) Transcript, an official report that verifies to prospective employers or graduate school admissions committees your involvement as a volunteer and in co-curricular activities on and off campus. The transcript includes a summary of skills you developed while participating in the activity and is affixed with the university seal and signature of the Director of Student Life to show authenticity.

The Buddy System

This program makes the adjustment process for first-year UNT students a little easier. The Buddy System peer mentoring program focuses on academics, leadership, cultural issues, social life and community service. The program pairs new UNT students with upper-class students of the same gender, ethnicity and major to assist the new students in building study skills, understanding scholarship and financial aid information, planning a career and participating in campus life.

The Buddy System provides entering students with information on UNT academic resources and student services, referrals to appropriate programs, and general encouragement and motivation. The program gets new students involved and helps them establish connections at UNT.

Mentoring

Freshmen looking for a head start on their academic and social experiences can attend Eagle Camp, a weekend retreat that introduces freshmen to UNT traditions and fosters new friendships.

The First-Year Experience assists new students in their personal, academic and social transition to UNT. The program, facilitated by first-year mentors, consists of personal contact through programs that tackle student issues. Programs include one-on-one consultations and AskFYE@unt.edu, an e-mail format for answering new students' questions.

Resource mentors are UNT faculty and staff members who are available to assist students with questions and concerns on an as-needed basis.

Deferred Scholars

Students not qualifying for admission to UNT can be eligible for deferred admission, provided that they enroll and complete 12 transferable, core courses at another institution with a 2.5 minimum GPA and participated in three student success programs during the course of that semester. For information about this program, contact the Office of New Student and Mentoring Programs at 940-565-4198.