About the ALS Department

Academic Learning Services (ALS) is an academic department housed within the Academic Success Center. ALS courses are designed to help students acquire confidence and foundational skills necessary for success in the university environment. These courses challenge students with rigorous content and workload while providing the support students need to be successful. ALS courses are electives, and a maximum of 15 ALS credits will count toward graduation. ALS courses exist for many campus programs, and ALS instructors come from throughout the university.

Interested in teaching opportunities though the ALS department?

ALS 114: Career Decision Making, and ALS 116: Academic Success, are coordinated by University Exploratory Studies Program staff (ALS 114) and Academic Success Center staff (ALS 116). Both rely on volunteer faculty and interning graduate teaching assistants from various departments at OSU to teach and facilitate recitations and sections of each course. ALS instructors are trained to deliver lesson plans that emphasize active learning, collaborative discussion, and constructive reflection. Interns/volunteers receive initial training as well as weekly support from the course coordinator in group meetings. Past instructors of ALS courses have reported gaining many benefits from the experience, both in their own development as teachers and in their exposure to course content. If you are interested in teaching an ALS course, please contact the coordinator of the course you’re most interested in teaching. Availability of teaching opportunities changes each term, and we cannot guarantee an opportunity to teach.

If you are interested in opportunities to teach ALS courses, please contact the following people:

Want to propose a new ALS course?

If you are interested in offering/teaching a new ALS course that is not currently available, we ask that you go through our “new course proposal” process.  When proposing a new ALS course, you will need to submit a proposed syllabus and learning outcomes for the course. For the appropriate forms and information on the process, please contact Clare Creighton: Clare.Creighton@oregonstate.edu.