Being a new college student can be intimidating—especially when the student is also still in high school! UA Early College makes sure its students have the tools they need to be successful. UA Early College is The University of Alabama’s dual enrollment program. The program lets high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors earn college credit by taking courses in person or online.
Available Tools and Resources
“We have a lot of different resources built into the program,” said Epiphany Wells-Kelly, UA Early College’s student success coordinator. Wells-Kelly helps all UA Early College students navigate higher education, and she connects students to the resources they need to do their best in class. “Academic support is my job,” Wells-Kelly said.
One of the biggest resources offered to students is the UAEC 200 College Readiness course. Every student is required to take this free course, which gives an introduction to college academics and earns them 2 college credit hours. Students learn how to use the library, study, write, research, communicate, and other important college-level skills.
“It’s College 101,” Wells-Kelly said. “You get exposed to Blackboard (an online course delivery system), writing a research paper and utilizing University resources.” Students aren’t expected to be experts after this class. Academic resources are available for students throughout their UA Early College journey if they need to brush up on these skills or would like some extra support. Wells-Kelly said UA Early College students have access to all the same resources as other UA students, plus more.
Helpful Links
Links to these resources can be found in the Early College Student Resources section on Blackboard, which is accessible to all UA Early College students.
- The Capstone Center for Student Success offers online and on-campus tutoring.
- Smarthinking is a 24/7online tutoring service available to all UA students.
- The Writing Center can help with research and writing papers.
- UA Libraries offer books, publications, databases, and several other resources that can be beneficial to a student’s work.
- The Career Center can guide students as they start to look ahead to selecting a major and planning a career.
Reach Out to Your Instructors
Wells-Kelly has seen several students feel hesitant about reaching out to their class instructors, but she said instructors are there to help and happy to answer questions. “Their instructor is the number one resource,” Wells-Kelly said. In her position, Wells-Kelly supports students the entire time they are enrolled. From beginning to end, she said someone will be there to check in with the students and hold them accountable for their grades.
“It’s important because it sets us apart from other dual credit or dual enrollment programs,” Wells-Kelly said. “We want to make sure you do well. If we see the grades start to slip or you miss assignments, someone is going to call you.” She wants students to proactively reach out to her if they feel like they may be getting behind or if they’ve identified an area for improvement.
Her goal is to communicate with students and give them all the tools available so they never get off track. “You don’t have to struggle alone. If you feel like you need a little more hands-on attention, or if you want to get a jump-start on how to study or how to be successful, you can definitely reach out,” Wells-Kelly said. “You don’t have to be in a bad situation to get help.”
For additional information, please contact UA Early College at 205-348-7083 or earlycollege@ua.edu.
