The Alumni Library provides a professionally-selected collection of materials to meet the informational and educational needs of the Wentworth community, with an emphasis on engineering, technology, architecture, design, computer science and management. Information is offered via books, periodicals, digital collections, e-books and audiovisual media.
The Library offers introductory information literacy programs that are conducted through various classes. In addition, more advanced sessions are available for specific projects, assignments and themes. Research classes are structured around the needs and wants of the participants. Also, open sessions are offered to all members of the Wentworth community for both general and specific research assistance.
The Library’s holdings include: 69,728 volumes, 37,585 e-journals from more than 78 Web-based databases; 50,166 e-books, 2,924 audiovisual materials (chiefly DVDs), and more than 385 current print periodical subscriptions.
All electronic resources (the majority of which are full-text) are available around the clock on-and off-campus, through the Alumni Library website at www.wit.edu.library. The Library offers wireless access to its web-based research databases.
The Alumni Library is a member of several library consortia: the Fenway Library Consortium (FLC); Fenway Libraries Online (FLO); OCLC, an international database that provides access to WorldCat with 1.6 billion items available through more than 10,000 participating member libraries; LYRASIS (formerly NELINET), which covers the New England region; the Boston Regional Library System; and the Massachusetts state-wide virtual catalog. Through the Library’s membership in the Fenway Library Consortium (FLC), the Wentworth community has access to more than three million volumes and other electronic and digital resources. Presentation of a valid Wentworth ID card is all that is needed to use or borrow books at the 16 member libraries.
Information Literacy Instruction
Total sessions 97
Total student participants 3136
Circulation
Total Library circulation 11,774
Interlibrary Loans (books, and media)
Total requests 1852
Visits to Library
Total in-person visitations 217,974
Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
One mission of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is to assist all Wentworth students with academic challenges in the areas of math, science, technical courses specific to majors and writing and communications. The CTL is a supportive and safe learning environment for students looking to improve or maintain their academic standing. Tutoring is primarily one-on-one, but tutors often lead study groups for specific courses. Each semester, the CTL runs workshops for students on Probation and interested in attending Graduate School, as well as English as a Second Language (ESL), Reading Improvement, and Writing a Research Paper. The Center also hosts a monthly Book Group.
The numbers of tutoring appointments for 2010 were as follows:
Spring 2010 – 1635 appointments/817.5 hours (similar to 2009), with the highest numbers in Physics I, Writing/ESL, Calculus I and Math I (343 students total)
Summer 2010 – 341 appointments/170.5 hours (22% increase from 2009), with the highest numbers in Math I, Writing, Structural Steel Design and AutoCAD (81 students total)
Fall 2010 – 1747 appointments/873.5 hours (7% increase from 2009), with the highest numbers in Writing/ESL, Math I, Calculus II and Calculus I (456 students total)
A second mission of the Center is to provide resources and support to faculty for teaching and professional development. The CTL works closely with the Office of the VPAA/Provost and various academic committees to achieve this goal. In 2010, the CTL worked on an expanded New Faculty Orientation. The Center continued to run the yearly Colloquium with Faculty Senate, and Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series, where faculty from different departments speak to a similar topic. The 2010 Colloquium was entitled Educating Our Students for the Future, with Wentworth Trustee Wayne Johnson as the Keynote Speaker. The 2010 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series included The Seen and Unseen in Back Bay and Fenway (Spring), Personal Incentives versus Service Learning: Two Models for Incorporating Appropriate Technologies into Developing Areas (Summer) and Sustainability in Art and Design: Private and Public Perspectives (Fall). In addition, the CTL sponsored the President’s Distinguished Speaker Series. The Spring 2010 talk, entitled Vision to Reality: the Engineering, Planning and Technology behind the Creation of Worldport, UPS’ Billion-Dollar Distribution Center, was given by Wentworth Corporator Jack Blaisdell, and the Fall 2010 talk, entitled Confessions of Columbus’ Shipbuilders, was given by Richard Gran of Mathematical Analysis.
Center for Community & Learning Partnerships (CLP)
The mission of CLP is to facilitate and strengthen partnerships that yield transformative educational experiences for students while addressing community interests.
Central to the Center’s operation is the focus on assets and relationships as way of facilitating outcomes-focused partnerships. While the CLP exists to promote volunteerism and civic engagement, our philosophy is not altruism. Rather, the focus of our activities and programs is to create rewarding academic and professional experiences that are impactful in the real world, and especially in our community. To that end, the Center supports students, faculty, and community stakeholder as collaborators in project and program activities.
The CLP is the result of years of faculty, staff, student, and community efforts to create partnerships that address neighborhood concerns while enhancing the educational and professional environment at Wentworth. The Center works to formalize these grassroots initiatives and enhance their impact on students and the community. Wentworth’s community includes our closest neighbors in Mission Hill, greater Boston, our Alternative Breaks sites across the country, and our international non-profit partners.
The Center enables students to participate in community service and Civic Engagement through a range of outlets, from nonprofit work with community partners to rebuilding efforts in New Orleans during Alternative Spring Break trips. Faculty members participate as well by running community-based design studios, Service Learning, or through direct participation in the community. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classified Wentworth and the CLP in 2008 for Community Engagement in Curricular Engagement as well as Outreach and Partnerships.
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