Spring 2025 workshop topics are listed below. Please select a date/time underneath each topic to register for that session. All inquiries concerning Academic Success Workshops, please contact Sara Morales at smorales@msu.edu.
Description: Achieve academic success by moving beyond basic planners and calendars; learn how adding a few simple time management techniques to your routine can significantly improve your academic performance and reduce the anxiety that comes with procrastination.
Presenter: Seven Mattes, Ph.D.
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Description: Procrastination saps the energy and undermines the potential accomplishments of many talented people; so many of us see procrastination as an unwelcome but unavoidable part of our lives and even think it might be some sort of character flaw. The fact is that procrastination has many causes, and the key is to focus on making it easier to NOT procrastinate on high priority tasks. This workshop will teach you how small changes in your thinking, your routines, your habits, and your surroundings can make it easier for you to get essential things done while saving mental and emotional energy.
Presenter: Seven Mattes, Ph.D.
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Description: An Assignment Tracker is an essential tool for getting organized for learning.Creating an Assignment Tracker at the start of your semester will give you a well-rounded understanding of the expectations for each course, and it can serve as a springboard for time management and planning.
Presenter: Sara Morales, M.A
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Description: In this workshop, we will discuss time management and prioritization with an emphasis on tools and strategies. Bring your schedules, to-do lists, and planners to this session so you can practice during the workshop. We will discuss how to balance competing priorities and manage your tasks based on your own schedule. We will also discuss options for planners, to-do lists, and other productivity tools.
Presenter: Sara Morales, M.A.
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Description: The aim of this workshop is to explore strategies to navigate group projects. Conflict, varied expectations, and group dynamics can make group projects difficult, but they can also be great opportunities to learn to work with people who we may not normally work with and help to gain skills that will be of assistance in the workplace and beyond. This workshop will discuss setting expectations, creating boundaries, and navigating conflicts that may arise in these spaces.
Presenter: Ryan Smith, Ed.D.
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Description: Speech delivery goes beyond the content of the speech and focuses on how the message is communicated verbally, nonverbally, and through visual aids. Take your presentations to the next level with this interactive workshop focused on delivering your message effectively and creating impactful visual aids.
Presenter: Alysa Lucas, Ph D.
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Description: Research has highlighted the power of having a growth mindset which equates to personal and professional success. This workshop will review the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. Participants will learn about the personal, psychological, and academic benefits of a growth mindset. Additionally, they will learn how to develop and maintain a growth mindset throughout their lifelong learning journey.
Presenter: Jake Kasper, M.Ed.
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Description: Planning a presentation involves several key steps to ensure your message is clear and engaging, including picking a topic, crafting a key message, connecting with your audience, and structuring the presentation. Whether you're preparing for a class presentation or a student leadership event, this workshop will equip you with practical tools and techniques to plan your speech like a pro. Presenters: Alysa Lucas Ph D.
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Description: 2023 Surgeon General’s Report indicates a loneliness epidemic is more harmful than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Other reports indicate lack of social connections have a significant impact on a student's academic success. This workshop will discuss the many issues around loneliness and how to tackle the harms of social isolation. Additionally, students will learn strategies for breaking the ice and getting to know people in the MSU community. Don’t worry, this content is geared for both introverts and extroverts. Everyone is welcome for this low-key interactive workshop experience.
Presenter: Jake Kasper, M.Ed.
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Description: In this workshop, you will be equipped with essential tools to navigate your academic path and future goals. Come Explore strategies to cultivate a fulfilling life marked by purpose, inspiration, and meaningful connections.
Presenter: LaDonna Croffe
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Description: Learn some simple, scientifically proven techniques that promote superior recall both on exams and in future classes in less time than “massed” study sessions (cramming).
Presenter: Kirby Gibson, M.S.
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Description: Learn more powerful tools, (building on High Impact Study Techniques 1): elaboration, dual coding, and concrete examples along with some equally effective graphical and analytical strategies can improve your understanding and recall of high priority course concepts.
Presenter: Sara Morales, M.A.
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Description: Do you find yourself taking notes and then not knowing how to study them later? Or maybe the way you take notes just isn’t working for every class. This workshop will introduce you to different strategies to revitalize your note-taking and increase the variety of note-taking and note-using methods you can use for different purposes including note-taking during lectures, reviewing new material, deep study, and other circumstances.
Presenter: Alysa Lucas, Ph.D.
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Description: Research shows that students who learn how to annotate texts and lectures tend to significantly increase their grades while spending less time studying. This workshop teaches easy, time-saving, annotation skills to replace less efficient methods when you really need to understand large quantities of new information. Underlining, highlighting, outlining, or copying of text content you may be doing now can all be good strategies, but may not be the most efficient learning strategy for more challenging reading tasks. This workshop will help you become a more engaged, strategic, and efficient reader.
Presenter. Sara Morales, M.A.
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Description: Don’t let your course readings be an obstacle to success. If you have trouble getting through your reading assignments, remembering what you have read, or making connections between readings and lectures, you may have fallen into a pattern of passive reading. Do you want to find out how to read with purpose and efficiency? This workshop will teach you to think strategically about efficient reading strategies. You will also learn ways to read for better recall and long-term retention.
Presenter: Nestor Espinoza, M.A.
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Description: Learn study strategies that will take you beyond the memorization you have used successfully in the past. In this workshop, we will build on study strategies you have already have mastered to branch out into new strategies, that reinforce recall while expanding your higher order reasoning skills, preparing you to excel in the critical thinking and application, evaluation questions that will become increasingly common in your exams as you advance in your college studies.
Presenter: Sam Drake, Ph.D.
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Description: Do you sometimes feel that the time you spend studying isn’t reflected in your exam scores? It doesn’t mean that you’re just “not good at math.” Come learn some study, practice, and test-taking strategies that, if incorporated into your math study routine and test-taking strategies can help you improve your success and confidence in math classes.
Presenter: Sam Drake, Ph.D.
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Description: Have you ever sat down to study for a test and not known where to start? Or perhaps found that your current test taking practices are not yielding the results you want. Come expand your test taking strategy toolkit by learning strategies that will help navigate test taking before, during, and after a test and techniques to apply to common test formats used in college.
Presenters: Sara Morales, M.A.
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Description: Learn easy strategies to prioritize learning goals and schedule study time for finals week. This session will also review a few high-performance study and time management strategies to help you give your best performance on final exams.
Presenters: Sam Drake, Ph.D.
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The AWSP fosters and promotes student development and academic success by providing timely, relevant student success workshops for students to aid them in achieving success at MSU.
The Academic Success Workshop Program strives to offer programming to support holistic undergraduate student success including academics progress, social engagement, and health and wellness. In partnership with first-year seminar courses and first-year experience programs in the Colleges, these workshops will reach a wide range of students to better support the transition to college, retention into year two, and graduation, all part of the MSU strategic plan. These workshops are coordinated within Undergraduate Seminars (UGS), while collaborating with a range of enthusiastic and engaging workshop facilitators from throughout the university.