Student Services

Integrated Educational Services:  The Four-Tiered Program

APU’s four-tiered educational services program integrates advising, assessment, counseling, and mentoring. It is designed to help freshmen and transfer students adapt to university life from initial contact with the University through graduation.  It attends to the academic, social, technological, career, and life goals of students. The program is administered by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

•  Tier One:  Advising

Advising is an important service at the University. Administrators and faculty guide students through problems that may arise while enrolled at the University. The administration may enlist the expertise of, Directors of programs, Dean of Students, faculty members, the Director of Financial Aid, or the Director of Career Services in resolving student problems, whether personal or scholastic in nature. Upon application and matriculation, each student is assigned an Academic Advisor from the Academic Advisor Corps. Members of the Academic Advisor Corps are selected from the academic staff of the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the academic department or program directors, members of the regular faculty, and the counseling services staff of the office of the Dean of Students. The Advisor orients and guides the student throughout his/her academic career. The advisor helps the student evaluate his/her learning skills, identifies needs, and refers him/her to the academic support services of the University’s counseling program. The University advises students in order to identify areas where mentoring, tutoring, and other learning resources may be efficacious. Students are advised in the selection of appropriate general education and vocational courses, graduation requirements, student life, conduct, and ethics. The University’s advising program enrolls freshman students in first-year courses and transfer students in courses appropriate to them.

•  Tier Two:  Assessment

The University conducts general knowledge and specialized field assessment. Pre-assessment is performed at the beginning of a student’s educational career. Continuous assessment is made by advisors and faculty throughout the learning process to monitor a student’s progress and quality of educational endeavor. Prior to graduation there is Post-assessment of a student’s educational achievements.

•  Tier Three:  Counseling

The University provides general counseling and learning support services for general education requirements, declaration and pursuit of a vocational field of study, service-learning opportunities, and learning skills enhancements.

•  Tier Four:  Educational Services

The educational services of the University support continued advising, assessment, and counseling and includes college orientation, preceptorial mentoring, and tutoring services. All entering American Pathways University students are invited to participate in college orientation, a time of introduction to the University, its programs, faculty, administration, staff, other students, and effective use of the Learning Resource Center system. Students may be taught by faculty members in preceptorial mentoring settings of one to three students in which the Preceptor gives individual attention to the students. Generally, students enjoy regular faculty interaction and feedback and tutorials are more academically challenging and rigorous than standard classroom courses. Tutoring services are available through the offices of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Dean of Students, or the Department Director. Tutoring is provided at no cost to the student by an advanced student, teaching assistant, instructor, or staff member.

Co-Curricular Activities

Co-curricular activities include lecture series, film festivals, and community action groups. These activities are designed to engage students in reflective discussions and intellectual engagements and in a variety of leadership challenges and opportunities that will benefit them in the near future and suggest to them how they can impact the world.

 

Counseling Services

The Dean of Students APU counseling staff, and Vice President for Academic Affairs facilitate strictly confidential personal counseling and family counseling, and serves as a referral resource to many community agencies, organizations and human services providers that may offer personal, financial, professional or other assistance.

Career Services

Career services are administered by the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at no extra cost to regular degree-seeking students and graduates of the University. Services may include employment referrals, references, and consultation. Students needing to develop skills of resume writing, interviewing, and professional image should register for APU courses designed for these outcomes. Graduates experiencing placement difficulties may audit for such course on a non-tuition basis in order to update professional skills, employment techniques, grooming, and social networking and interaction. Personal or professional conduct detrimental to the University may forfeit career services privileges. Such conduct may include, but are not limited to, a positive drug test, felony charges or conviction, employment discharge for cause, sexual harassment, and unethical conduct. In addition, candidates for University career services must be current and proficient in the skills associated with their career, present a professional image, and have an unblemished employment record. While APU’s graduate placement record is good, the University does not guarantee employment

Housing

American Pathways University is a non-residence institution and does not provide housing. Most students live within a few miles of University offices and classrooms and commute from home and work to attend the University. For students needing housing, American Pathways University may refer the students to appropriate housing agencies, but cannot guarantee housing placement or suitability.

 

Instructional Sites

American Pathways University offers classes at several instructional sites (called Learning Centers) that are managed by the University’s administration. Courses are scheduled at these facilities by the Office of Academic Affairs and are accessible throughout APU’s service area. University facilities include more than 40 classrooms and laboratories, including computer labs and auditoriums. These facilities consist of over 20,000 square feet and can accommodate over 750 students.

Computer Instructional Labs

The computer labs have a dual platform configuration of Apple and PC hardware and software. This allows students to utilize the two personal computer systems prominent in the United States.

 

Learning Resource System and Library Services

• American Pathways University Learning Resource System staff provides advice and assistance to individual students on library research, resources, and procedures. Periodic library orientation seminars are conducted for all students.  The APU NewsGram, the APU Library Services and Utilization Directory and Guide and the University website (americanpathways.edu) keep students informed of University news and operations, including library news, services, orientation seminar dates, and library technology. APU’s Online Resource Library contains current vocational and professional articles and periodicals.
• American Pathways University utilizes the statewide Colorado Library Card [Borrowing] System. Known by the acronym CARL (Colorado Association of Research Libraries), this program allows APU students equal opportunity borrowing privileges and direct access to all the services offered by the Denver-based libraries of the University of Colorado at Denver and Metropolitan State College of Denver, as well as the Denver Public Library system and all other public, private, and university libraries in Colorado. The Library Card may be obtained by an APU student free of charge from any of the following libraries: The Denver Public Library and all of its branches, University of Colorado at Denver Library, Metropolitan State University Library, Community College of Denver Library and eighteen other Denver-area library systems.

•  The Colorado Library Card [Borrowing] System allows APU student access to approximately 15,000,000 volumes of the Colorado library repositories. APU students enjoy unlimited borrowing and library staff services free of charge and access to learning resources that are among the finest library holdings in business, allied health and counseling, management, government, and ministerial studies of any individual college library or other library systems in the United States. APU students may checkout any of these volumes in two ways:

Walk-in checkout procedure. A student may personally walk into any of the listed Colorado libraries and checkout one or more books by using his/her Library Card (the Card is free and each APU student should have his/her own personal Card).

On-Line ordering procedure. If the student’s local library system does not have a book, he/she may go to the library’s website and order it from another Colorado library for delivery to the local library where he/she may check it out using his/her Library Card.  Local library links are available at the University website (americanpathways.edu).

• APU Library Handbook. Available in hardcopy and at the University website (americanpathways.edu), the APU Library Handbook provides detailed explanation and step-by-step descriptions on how to checkout books utilizing the Colorado Library Card System.