Any experience with SALT Center at U of A??? (schools, university)

[MsAlex]

We heard that the S.A.L.T. Center of the University of Arizona was the best program for students with learning disabilities, located at any state university in the country. Our son (who has some learning disabilities) is considering U of A, and the big draw is the SALT Center.
What's strange is that, compared to other schools that have what I think are similar programs, the SALT Center reveals precious little about what they do and who they are. Their "information" is not very informative. So far, talking with them by phone, it just sounds like the student gets a half hour meeting with a counselor once a week, and that's the end of the story.
We're coming in from out of state to visit U of A and the Salt Center soon, so I hope to learn more during that trip. I would be very grateful, however, to also hear from other parents (or students) who have had experience with this program.
Thanks so much!!!
Alex

[curly5759]

My daughter was a SALT center worker. Nothing more than a tutor. She was given the names of students to tutor and the topics, she would schedule the meetings and tutor the students. She was paid by the hour for each hour she met with the students. No big deal, I'm sure every college has something similar.
As far as I know, the amount of time the tutor spent with the student was determined by the tutor and student. My daughter chose to meet with about 5 students for 2 1 hour sessions each week.

[MsAlex]

Thanks very much for your comments. The reason I ask about SALT is because it really isn't supposed to be "just another program" like other schools have. This has been described as the best such program in a public university anywhere in the country. I've visited there now, but have yet to speak to anyone who has had personal experience with it.
-Alex

[Nosalt08]

I read these postings last semester and was impressed by what I heard but the reality of my experience at the SALT Center has been very different. I started at the SALT Center half way through my Spring 08 semester with high hopes for what SALT would do for me. Everything was going smooth until I had a minor miscommunication with one of my tutors. She complained to her supervisor. When the supervisor met with me she overreacted so extremely to the situation that I was speechless. So what could this extreme reaction mean for your child? I am now on a University watch list as a threat to the student body and also as a threat to the University. The supervisors imagination, and I suspect too much CSI, contributed to her making false alligations against me, slandering my name and compromising my reputation with my professors on campus. Whats the bottom line? If you value your childs access to education, do not want them to be maligned by an administrator who isn't held accountable for her actions, and want them to graduate without a police record, then you had better stay clear of the SALT Center. 65 students and tutors over the past few months have told stories similar to mine and I am getting more emails weekly. The SALT ideal might look good in theory but in actuality it does not deliver on its promise of protecting the interests of the students. If my experience at SALT is indicitive of its policies and practices, I would have to conclude that SALT will definitely sacrifice a student if it is in the best interest of SALT.

[billwill11.9015]

I am currently a SALT student and I was recently raked over the coals by an overly authoratative administrator for what I thought was a mild infraction. I was doing my part time job of cleaning up inside the SALT building when a non-involved administrator accused me of not respecting other peoples boundaries. No biggie right. It is not that she accused me of being too chatty, it was the way she went over board with her accusation and threats to have me expelled and put on the list. All the things she thareatened me with will go on my permanent University record, so for me, I have to take her seriously even if she is acting rediculously. Once it is on your record, it takes an act of God to remove it. Three months later her threats still have me so anxious I am afaraid to use SALT. There seems to be a double standard at the SALT Center. The students that have psychological disorders are automatically suspected of being unstable and potentially dangerous regardless of evidence to the contrary, where as, the learning challenged (adhd) students conduct is often excused and ignored. I am not sure that threatening me with expulsion from the program was necessary in light of the minor infraction I was charged with. I wish SALT would do something about it's discriminatory policies, out of control administrators and remember that each student is a person first and a dollar sign second. Oh, the icing on the cake, while she was doing this to me she said it was necessary to protect the University from people like me.

[gensenj]

I think I know that administrator. Tall, blond and well, I don't want to be cruel. I know a couple former SALT tutors from last semester and from what I heard there is definetly a problem on the management side of things. The people who run the SALT Center are mostly administrators who's only concern seems to be keeping their miserable jobs and occassionally seeing one of the students.
MsAlex asked about what SALT does for its students? Basically, the student is given a weekly 30 minute meeting with a learning specialist who helps organize a schedule using a day planner, they have access to the math/writers lab and access to tutors, that is about it.
I think the real story is the tutors. They are never available when the students need them, they list as many classes as they can on their tutor resume but can remember/tutor few, the administrators borrow tutors from one subject to "cover" other subjects where they lack tutors, and the tutors and students are crammed into a room the size of a closet with twenty tutors all talking at once.
The tutors seem to have more issues than the students. Behavior like comming to work still drunk from the party the night before, doing the students homework for them, hooking up with cute students, taking exams for SALT friends and conducting their own personal business instead of tutoring are literally just the tip of the iceberg.
Dont get me wrong, the tutors are not the problem, the management is. The tutors are just too young and are often illequipped with the necessary life skills, responsibilities and experiences to effectively cope with all the pressure and stress of working 20 hours a week with SALT students. It really is too much to ask of an 18 year old.
My friend, the tutor, was let go when a personal matter caused her to miss work. She wasn't exactally fired but she was encouraged to leave. SALT wasn't a good experience for her or any of the students that were left stranded by her irrational forced resignation.
Considering how little the students receieve in services when compared with how exorbinant the cost, I am suprised that anyone at all uses SALT.

[Nosalt08]

I have been working with one of the University of Arizona's SALT Center Learning Specialists for the last few months and she has been trying to teach me how to survive the University of Arizona without the Learning Specialist component of SALT. Here it goes, the top ten Nosalt08 study techniques.
1) Get lots of organizational help before the beginning of each semester. Organizing and prioritizing your semester, class time and study times can be the most difficult yet most critical aspect of the initial process. Do a few dry runs to make sure all the bugs are worked out of your system. (Buy books like "how to be a master student" and "how to identify your learning style" to help bring you up to speed on what a semester at a University will demand. Familiarizing yourself with sites like studygs.net and lib.umn.edu can really start you out on the right foot).
2) Using your laptop's day planner program to plot out your class times, class assignments, due dates, and other daily obligations is time well spent. (Gets the big picture of what each hour, day, week and month looks like).
3) Download every class syllabi and create a folder for each class with appropriate subfolders. When you need something class related it should already be in one of your folders.
4) Create email folders for every class, every class project, electronic class notes etc. and keep every correspondence concerning that class in a folder. (I create a folder for every different email catagory I receive. Every email goes into some kind of a folder and stays there until the semester is over, period, no exceptions.)
5) Use electronic versions of books if possible, if not, scan regular text books and keep them on your laptop. Use your laptops highlighter feature to highlight the key terms as the professor references them during the lecture.
6) Use the text books website to its fullest potential.
7) Meet the people in your class and find out which ones want to start a study/email study group (It is important to be able to bounce a question off someone who is in the same class as you.
8) Use the TA's to help you network with other students who have already established a study group (My Psyc 101 TA Trevor helped me with a study group and also gave me a copy of the book ADD, it changed my life).
9) Use the Disabled Resources on campus and don't be afraid to introduce yourself to the professors. Just give them a brief outline of where you are starting from. (Some bigots might penalize you but the majority of professors will work with you when you really need them.)
10) And finally, if an administrator, TA or professor reveals a bias against disabled people, don't take it personally, just find another way to get what you want.
This is what I have learned so far from two semesters at the University of Arizona SALT Center. You survive school by having a sound organizational foundation, an electronic infrastructure to support it and finely tuned social skills. Viva la UA.
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[Mrs.K]

Wow! You're writing is amazing. Keep up the awesome work, you're going to go far.