ARSC Success Skills Courses

We currently offer two courses with small classes to help Arts & Sciences undergraduates acclimate to balancing school and other life obligations. These are offered to incoming first-years in the fall semester, and in fall and spring semesters for continuing students who have found themselves struggling academically or wanting additional support for whatever reason.

Both courses are structured to provide more direct and frequent interaction with advisement and campus support to help our students develop important communication skills, practice different learning strategies, more efficiently navigate university life, and prioritize relationship-building during crucial times in their studies.

ARSC 198: A Lobo's Guide to A&S
Open to first-year A&S students
Fall semesters

This course is designed specifically for new incoming students who are considering a major or minor within A&S. It is faciliated by our very own Academic Advisors and the Education & Development Manager of the A&S Center for Academic Success. The course will emphasize major and degree exploration, navigation of university resources, and effective communication with campus entities—areas that students themselves have consistently identified as especially valuable through past course feedback.

This course allows for deeper, more individualized support tailored to students’ academic interests and career goals, and will help build stronger, earlier connections between students and their major departments and advisors in a fun, low-stakes environment.  Students will have chances to visit department locations, engage directly with faculty, and learn about discipline-specific opportunities, while also encouraging exploration of complementary and interdisciplinary minors or second majors in a more targeted and meaningful way.
 
Additional topics to be discussed include the following:
  • Degree Audit and graduation requirements exploration
  • Registration support
  • Building academic and social communities
  • Engaging with your education
  • Understanding the culture of higher education - both its opportunities and barriers to student success
  • Connecting to UNM resources and support systems  
  • Developing communication skills to cultivate relationships with university faculty and staff

Click below to see available sections for the upcoming semester:

ARSC 198: A Lobo's Guide to A&S Fall 2025 Flyer

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ARSC 198: Learning Strategies
Returning students, first and second-year students, transfer students
Fall & Spring semesters

Do you need a refresher of successful student success skills and an online class option to complete your schedule? 

Consider registering for an online section of our ARSC 198: Learning Strategies course!  Please see the information on the flyer below.  The class is fully online, worth 3 credit hours, and is 8-weeks long (sometimes offered as a 2-week long late starting course).

This is fast-paced, online course that is worth 3-credit hours. It is an asynchronous online course, which means that there are no scheduled meeting times. Instead, students will work through timed modules filled with activities with fixed deadlines. Content is related to practicing time management, communication skills, and learning strategies – all to support success, specifically in an online and web-enhanced learning environment.  This is a great course for students who may need extra practice in these areas or help with credit recovery for the semester.  Register now via LoboWeb!

ARSC 198: Learning Strategies Fall 2025 Flyer

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ARSC 198: Academic Recovery & Resilience
Continuing students on academic probation
Spring semesters

This is a much more nuanced, personalized, and involved course for students who have demonstrated a need for more direct academic and personal support and may be on academic probation. It is a 1-credit hour course taught by Academic Advisors and sometimes other student support representatives and Peer Learning Facilitators (PLFs). In this class, students will have more dedicated time to reflect and continue developing proven learning strategies. We will also bring campus resources directly to the students as they work to get back on track and decide the next steps of their individual academic journeys.

First-year students are required to take this course if they fall below a 2.0 GPA during their first semester. If you have more questions regarding the policies related to probation and suspension in A&S, please visit the College of Arts & Sciences section of the UNM Catalog, updated annually, and/or speak with your Academic Advisor. Please be advised that students required to take this course are automatically enrolled in it following the posting of the previous semester’s grades, and they are not able to drop this course on their own without permission of an advisor. If a first-year student opts not to take this course, they must inform their ARSC 198 instructor immediately and will need to either transfer to a different college within The University of New Mexico or be disenrolled from all their courses for the semester.

NOTE: This course is open to any A&S students who would like academic, social, and emotional support with permission from their Academic Advisor.

Questions? If you have any questions related to the ASCAS course offerings, please email asadvise@unm.edu and they will connect you with the Education and Development Manager who coordinates the curriculum.