It’s only been open a few weeks, but already the new Center for Academic Success has been achieving results worthy of its name.

Located in the basement of the library near Information Technology Services, the Center includes the Office of Academic Assistance and the Center for Teaching and Learning, which houses the Writing and Media Lab. Both offices help students with academic work and have seen an increase in the number of students making use of their services since moving into the same space this academic year.

Barbara Foltz, Director of Academic Assistance, said the two offices had “coexisted for many years and worked well together,” but the Office of Academic Assistance was originally located on the opposite side of the library basement from the Center for Teaching and Learning. The setup often caused confusion for students looking for either office.

Jean Schwab, Writing and Media Lab Coordinator, said the Center for Academic Success was established by “bringing together physically two complementary entities.” The new Center does not merge the Office of Academic Assistance and the Center for Teaching and Learning into one department but retains them as separate entities.

The directors of both departments said they have seen positive results because of the shared space.

Jane Love, the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, noted that there has already been an increase in the number of students who have come to the Center for Academic Success seeking writing assistance. This academic year is the first year that the Writing and Media Lab had to start a waiting list for writing and multimedia consultations.

Foltz said that one-on-one tutoring under Academic Assistance has increased by almost 50 percent so far this academic year. Foltz noted that the closer proximity of the two offices has helped tutors in Academic Assistance immediately point struggling students to writing consultants in the Writing and Media Lab.

Leaders in both the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Academic Assistance have cited increased student awareness and visibility of the Center for Academic Success as factors contributing to the increased number of students served this year.

“I’m sure location is a part of it,” Foltz said.

Senior Associate Academic Dean Marianne Pierce said the administration began conversations about forming an easily accessible academic center as early as last fall. The decision to physically move Academic Assistance into the Center for Teaching and Learning was made in the spring of 2013, and the moving process occurred over the summer.

Dean Pierce said that the current organization of the Center for Academic Success will be “the biggest help for students because it simplifies things.” The new Center “makes it easier on administration by helping to deliver services more effectively to students,” she said.

Pierce also said it’s possible that the university will move the Center of Academic Success to a larger space in the future.

The Center for Academic Success is staffed entirely by trained students in order to instill an atmosphere of peer support, the directors said.

The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays.