•  Provide USA students with a range of excellent academic services that support academic success;
•  Provide support services to faculty and staff.
The Department does this through:
•  Courses in Mathematics, English Composition, Study Skills and College Reading, Freshman Orientation, and Career Planning;
•  The Learning Lab which provides free tutoring, computers for work in DS, CP or LAS courses, testing services;
•  The University Writing Center, where any member of the university community can receive one-on-one consultation about their writing;
•  The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Initiative that provides workshops and assistance for faculty planning and teaching W courses in their own disciplines;
 •  Experienced and dedicated faculty and staff whose goal it is to promote student success.

Our services are available to all University students, faculty and staff. Courses in the department are open to all University students, those who are required to take the courses or who may choose to take the courses. CP courses and LAS 100 are degree credit courses. However, credits earned in DS courses carry institutional non-degree credit and allow students to qualify for financial aid. Grades earned in all courses taught by the department are computed into the overall GPA in most colleges and hours are counted toward classification (sophomore, etc.)