The corner stone of academics

Past Ursa’s, toward the underpass, there is a small stretch of campus-related businesses, varying from a movie rental store to a laundry service. Among these connected offices lies one service that every undergrad is familiar with—Cornerstone. Set up to help students with the material of any course offered at Washington University, Cornerstone has made a noticeable impact on campus life.

“Here in Cornerstone, we will work to offer a student support in any undergraduate course he or she seeks assistance in. The most commonly requested courses are science and math, writing across all courses, psychology and the foreign languages,” LaShawnda Fields, academic programs coordinator for Cornerstone, said.

Certainly for required introduction classes such as General Chemistry and calculus, Cornerstone strives to offer support. From private tutoring with a small group of students to mass study sessions held in campus lecture rooms, there are a variety of options for students.

“I’ve had a positive experience with Cornerstone’s large Chemistry review sessions. They are useful and helped refresh my memory [about the topic] prior to a test or exam,” Matt Snider, a freshman, said.

While Cornerstone places a strong emphasis on math and sciences, other, not-so-common courses are also given some attention.

“I have a computer science study group [in Cornerstone] that meets every Sunday. Basically, it’s four students with one computer science major, who helps us with the lab material. It’s such a small group that the whole thing has been really helpful,” Julia Greenberger, a freshman, said.

If one doesn’t have the time to form a personal study group, Cornerstone is also affiliated with the Residential Peer Mentor (RPM) program, which features upperclassmen who have excelled in a certain area holding review sessions in the dorms.

“[To be an RPM], you apply through ResLife and are interviewed by Cornerstone to see if you know your subject. We all work together with the RAs and everyone to create a program for students that [looks] out for their academic experience and growth. [The program] helps students achieve their personal academic goals and creates appreciation for [the subject], along with critical thinking skills,” Iboro Umana, a junior RPM for Park/Mudd, said.

All of the available programs led by Cornerstone, such as RPM, Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) and individual study groups, have made a profound difference in most freshmen’s beginning academic experience at Wash. U. However, once the general classes have been passed and students begin to work toward courses more specific to their major, some have found that the initial help given by Cornerstone dwindles.

“They offer a lot up front for freshmen, but after that, if you want help in a class, you have to initiate it. I don’t understand why they don’t have things like PLTL for upper classes, which I think are harder,” Tolya Kuznetsou, a sophomore, said.

It would seem that for courses on higher levels in the academic spectrum, Cornerstone’s push to be involved decreases. So, while freshmen and those involved in related programs describe positive experiences with the advanced learning center, some upperclassmen feel certain neglect.

“I tried to form a study group this year for Organic Chemistry, but [Cornerstone] never got back to me,” Kuznetsou said, adding that if he had perhaps pursued it a bit further, they may have eventually made contact.

It can be argued that this pullback by Cornerstone is due to the desire for students to take a more independent route in seeking out help as they grow to maturity. So, while the help is still there for students, a little more initiative is needed to actually gain such help.

As the freshman transition year is sometimes considered the hardest, due to changes in study habits and newfound stress, such focus on the first years makes sense. It would not be very practical to have mass review sessions for a class that only a few students take. Thus, the higher the level the course, it would seem, the more effort needed to engage in a help session with Cornerstone.

Except for this little glitch, Cornerstone is, overall, a strong program that offers the right amount of help for courses across the board.

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