Rice University has launched the Office of Academic Support for Undergraduate Students, a new initiative aimed at providing equitable, inclusive and professional academic support and fostering a culture of help-seeking and collaborative learning. Established in July 2024, OASUS currently offers peer-led learning programs and a dedicated testing center to enhance student success.
The office’s flagship initiatives include the Drop-in Study program, Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) Study Groups and a Testing Center that provides an accommodated environment for exams.
“The goal with this office is to provide a central resource where students can receive academic support,” said Elizabeth Cummins Muñoz, director of OASUS. “We want to make sure it’s structured in a way that is accessible to all students, including those with limited resources, different learning needs or significant commitments outside of academics.”
OASUS’ structure, programs and goals are informed by the work and recommendations of a 2023 university working group co-chaired by Matt Taylor, senior associate provost, and Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates, and included students, faculty and staff. The working group conducted extensive benchmarking of academic support centers at research universities, including site visits to Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania, all of which are moving away from one-on-one peer tutoring in favor of centralized, trained, small-group peer-led learning.
While the Testing Center and PAL Study Groups are in pilot phases this spring, the Drop-in Study program has already made a significant impact. Initially piloted in spring 2024, the program expanded in the fall to support 21 courses enrolling 72% of all first-year students and 66.8% of all second-year students. More than 3,300 visits were recorded last semester, with peer educators also benefiting from 16 hours of professional development training.
“I feel like the environment we have allows for a good collaborative effort,” said Darsh Shah, a junior majoring in sports medicine and exercise physiology who is a peer educator in the Drop-in Study program. “When you teach something, you also learn something. The students I’m helping give back to me by challenging me to think differently.”
Sofie Rose, a freshman majoring in chemical engineering, emphasized the program’s value.
“Having this one-on-one support has been immensely helpful,” Rose said. “Keeping this program going would be amazing because this honestly has been a lifesaver. Having a dedicated space to come and study or work on things has been really helpful for me.”
OASUS was created in response to a 2019 task force identifying disparities in academic outcomes and experiences among students. By centralizing and bringing professional training and evidence-based practices to academic support, including peer education, the office collaborates with faculty members who teach the courses supported by Drop-in Study and existing resources, such as the Center for Academic and Professional Communication and the Disability Resource Center, to ensure peer educators’ efforts align with course learning outcomes and students have access to the tools they need to succeed.
OASUS aims to continue working with campus partners to build a strong peer educator network at Rice, reinforcing its commitment to student success through equitable academic support. The office also plans to enhance existing support resources through workshops, online learning modules and individual consultations with professional learning specialists beginning in fall 2025.
“In addition to offering concrete support, a pillar of all of our programming is to encourage the idea that learning is done together,” Cummins Muñoz said. “In everything we do, we’re inherently collaborative, and we want to be very explicit about cultivating a culture of help-seeking among Rice students.”
For more information about OASUS and its programs, visit https://oasus.rice.edu/about.