The Academic Opportunity Center Changed Names, Not Services

With an increase in new freshman admissions, some staff are concerned that services such as the Academic Opportunity Center may not meet the needs of all new students.

The center has an increase of over 200 people from this past fall to this upcoming fall. Johannes Britz, the University’s Provost, expressed concern over the future of the Academic Opportunity Center and its services at a meeting for the Academic Planning and Budget Committee.

“The challenge for this year’s class is the former AOC class, students with more needs who come in, are actually much higher than last year,” said Britz. “That can put a strain on those services.”

After being with the program for twenty years, John Dorosz, the Interim Director of the Office of Central Advising where the Academic Opportunity Center is held, does not agree with the provost’s worries.

“The numbers of AOC Students are increasing along with the numbers of freshman across the campus,” said Dorosz. “As far as services to those students, it really isn’t changing.”

Both the Academic Opportunity Center and the University as a whole have had a couple years in which admissions is down from its average numbers. This increase is helping keep the services in question working at a normal pace.

The Academic Opportunity Center (AOC) has been a big part of UW-Milwaukee’s admissions since the center opened in 1968. In July of 2017, the center was moved to be a subdivision of the Office of Central Advising (OCA), and all the advisors and staff moved with it.

“In this transition with AOC coming up under the Office of Central Advising, there really has been no change in the AOC component,” said Dorosz. “We have the same advisors that we did a year ago. As far as the students access to the services, that will not change”

The AOC is an advising center that welcomes students who may have not been admitted to the University to be admitted and gives them the necessary tools to succeed as a student. This is possible because of the University’s policy of holistic admissions, which looks at all factors that could make a prospective student a successful one, not just grades and test scores.

“Students can get into the AOC with a range of criteria,” said Dorosz. “We work closely with the admissions office.”

This range of criteria often includes situations out of the students control that prevented them from preforming well in high school. Some students may have experienced sickness or death in the family, some may have had to work extra hours in high school to help with family bills and some may have just taken AP classes and got in over their heads.

The new Office of Central Advising includes the AOC, Student Support Services, three multicultural offices (African American, American Indian, Southeast Asian) in Bolton Hall and new meta-major advising, starting in the fall for new freshman who are undecided that would’ve gone into the College of Letters and Science.

Students remain under the advising of the AOC for about a year on average, or until they are able to get into the school or college of their choosing within the University. The center’s services include primary and secondary advisors, extra help in math and English core classes and even eligibility into a summer bridge program for new freshman.

The Bridge Program allows students to take summer math and English classes to get a head start on campus and in those classes. About 80 students are admitted through Bridge each summer.

“Students coming in through Bridge really have an advantage over students who don’t,” said Dorosz. “They get to know the campus over the summer, they get more time with their professors and they get to know other students.”

Many of the AOC students are from the Greater Milwaukee area, and they would have been limited to further or more expensive options had they not been accepted.

The longevity of the AOC is evidence that it works and that it is here to stay. The services that it provides will continue to serve as a way to get hard-working students the degrees they deserve.