The 44th Annual Conference of the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) took place in San Diego, CA from April 26 – April 28. The theme of the conference was “The First Mission: Student Success,” which recognizes learning assistance programs’ dedication and mission to meet the needs of their students.
Skyline College was well-represented at this conference: Christina Trujillo, Learning Center Instructional Aide II, served as a member of the conference planning committee and as a member of the ACTLA Board. In addition, Learning Center Manager Chelssee De Barra, Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program Coordinator Timurhan Vengco, Instructional Aide Scott McMullin, and Basic Skills Retention Specialist Raymon Gutierrez attended the conference to learn best practices and innovative approaches for the Learning Center’s academic support programs.
Further, three proposals from Skyline College were accepted and presented. Presentations included:
* “Learning Assistance is Backwards…Designed: Adapting Innovative Training Practices to Empower Student Learners and Leaders” Presented by Christina and Timurhan
* “From Paper to Canvas: Coordinating a Supplemental Instruction Program through a Learning Management System” Presented by Timurhan Vengco
* “Make Learning Assistance POP: Developing Professional Online Portfolios for Students, Staff, Faculty, and Beyond” Presented by Scott McMullin
Presentations were well-received and sparked lively exchanges about training student leaders, utilizing campus technologies to make our work more efficient, and leading academic support programs among participants, who included learning assistance professionals from the California Community Colleges, the CSU and UC systems, and higher-education institutions from out-of-state.
Next year’s ACTLA conference will be held in Las Vegas in April 2019. The Skyline College Learning Center staff look forward to participating and representing the college and district.
Article by Christina Trujilo and Timurhan Vengco
