SSP Course Offerings

The Student Success Program (SSP) is the epicenter for lower-division academic skills courses and upper-division peer training and practicum courses. All courses and practica are taught and supervised by SSP faculty members who are specialists in their fields of training and student development.

Academic Skills Courses

Expand all

Academic Skills Courses

SSP 1001 Reading Hacks for College

 (1 credit, 5-week session, A/F, Fall, Spring) Reading Hacks for College will help maintain your focus and better manage time so you retain more information and get through academic texts faster. Based on proven learning theories, the course materials will change the way you look at reading assignments and help you develop an effective, efficient, personalized active reading system.

SSP 1002 Managing Time and Stress

 (1 credit, 5-week session, A/F, Fall, Spring) This course introduces you to various time and stress management tools and techniques, including planning, prioritizing, minimizing procrastination, avoiding switch-tasking, and practicing mindfulness.

SSP 1004 Studying, Note Taking, and Test Taking

 (1 credit, 5-week session, A/F, Fall, Spring) You will learn more effective ways to understand, analyze, and apply information. Topics of focus include various note-taking systems, research-based study techniques, and test-taking strategies.

SSP 1052 Academic Reading and Writing at the College Level

(3 credits A/F) This course teaches students to read and respond to texts at the college level. In a supportive and active classroom, students will develop critical thinking and rhetorical skills they can immediately apply to any activity that requires college-level reading and/or writing. Students will use these active reading strategies to deepen their understanding of a wide variety of texts. Students will also respond to these texts in multiple ways.

SSP 2000 College Resilience: Building Confidence and Optimism

(2 credits A/F) Developing a plan to complete your college education can be challenging. In this course, you will learn practical methods for defining personal interests and academic goals, while stressing the value of working within a community of peers and mentors. By consistently achieving manageable goals within the course, you will build the confidence and momentum needed to guide your academic journey. 

SSP 2010 Finding Your Purpose: Going Deeper in College and Beyond

(1-credit, 7-week session, A-F) Have you found that as a college student the life choices you must make have become more challenging? Do you question your purpose or even the need for you to know what it is right now? This course will help you evaluate how you make educational, social, and personal decisions with the goal of becoming more deliberately engaged in your own process. Through discussion and reflection, you will learn how to determine quality outcomes for yourself and apply this process to make better decisions for your future.

Training and Practicum Opportunities

Expand all

Training and Practicum Opportunities

SSP 3003 Peer Tutor Pedagogy

(2 credits A/F, Prerequisite: instructor consent) Tutor Training is an introduction to contemporary learning theory and its application to one-on-one and small group learning situations (tutorials) with emphasis on philosophy, procedures, and practices known to be effective in improving learning.

SSP 3004 Peer Tutor Practicum

(1-2 credits, Grading Option A/F, S/N, Audit; Prerequisite: SSP 3003, or CRLA tutor certification, max 6 credits) Students participate in a supervised practicum leading one-on-one and small group tutorials. Tutor responsibilities are outlined in a contract with the faculty supervisor.

SSP 3005 UMD Seminar Peer Leaders Training

(1 credit A/F, Spring) Training course designed to provide both a theoretical understanding of student development in higher education and a practical collection of skills in working with faculty to foster this development.

SSP 3006 UMD Seminar Peer Leaders Practicum

(1 credit A/F, S/N, Audit; Prerequisite: SSP 3005, max 3 credits) As the practicum component to the Peer Leaders experience, this course provides both opportunity and context for Peer Leaders to implement elements of their training in order to work with first-year university students.

SSP 3103 Advanced Peer Tutoring: Pedagogy and Mentorship

(2 credits, Grading Option A/F, Audit; Prerequisite: Completion of SSP 3003 with a B or better or instructor consent or prior CRLA level 1 certification) Advanced Peer Tutoring further explores contemporary learning theory and allows eligible students to apply for CRLA level 2 certification. Students will learn and practice more advanced tutoring techniques in class and in the Tutoring Center. They will also observe and mentor an assigned cohort of SSP 3003 students, achieving the title Peer Tutor Mentor.

SSP 4291 Independent Study in Peer Tutor Leadership

(2 credits, Grading Option A/F, Audit; Prerequisite: Completion of SSP 3103 with a B or better or instructor consent or prior CRLA level 2 certification) Independent Study in Peer Tutor Leadership further explores contemporary learning theory and allows eligible students to apply for College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) Level 3 Master Tutor certification.  Students will work alongside their instructor to develop advanced pedagogical skills particularly related to a learning center.