Last Day To Submit Proposal: December 15th, 2023
Our Annual Conference will be taking place from April 17th-19th, 2024. Please consider submitting a proposal as well as registering to attend our conference!
At ACTLA, we believe in the transformative power of learning assistance, both on the students, staff, faculty, and administration involved in learning assistance work as well as for the institutions of education as a whole. As our mission statement affirms, our work facilitates student empowerment, restorative justice, and the transfer of cultural knowledge within our global communities.
History of ACTLA
The Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) was organized in 1973 with the purpose of improving tutorial programs and services in California Community Colleges.
The first conference was held at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria on May 2, 1974. Through 1983 the organization was called the California Community College Tutorial Association (CCCTA). Beginning in 1984, with the intention of including all institutions of higher education in California, the name changed to the Association of California Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACCTLA). In the summer of 2002 a strategic planning committee of the executive board approved a final name change to the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA).
More than 30 years after its inception ACTLA is now a national organization but retains its original purpose: improving tutorial programs and related services.
ACTLA loves its roots (all segments of higher education in California) but its canopy (a national organization with a CLADEA affiliation) is the direction and purpose we've had for 15 years!
“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”
- Cesar Chavez
MISSION
THE MISSION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES FOR TUTORING AND LEARNING ASSISTANCE IS TO ADVANCE EXCELLENCE WITHIN OUR DISCIPLINE AND PRACTICE. THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CERTIFICATION, AND DIALOGUE, WE FOSTER AND PROMOTE RACIAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC EQUITY IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. WE RECOGNIZE THE CRITICAL ROLE OF TUTORING AND LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS IN DISRUPTING AND TRANSFORMING INEQUITABLE PRACTICES AND EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS.
THE HISTORIC AND SYSTEMIC NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY HAS CREATED ECONOMIC AND PSYCHO-SOCIAL BARRIERS FOR OUR STUDENTS. WE ARE COMMITTED TO ENSURING EQUITABLE ACCESS AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICES REGARDLESS OF RACE, GENDER, SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS, AGE, ABILITY, RELIGION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, AND INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION AND EXPERIENCE.
OUR WORK FACILITATES STUDENT EMPOWERMENT, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, AND THE TRANSFER OF CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE WITHIN OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITIES.
Specific Objectives and Purposes
The specific objectives and purposes of ACTLA shall be to improve the tutorial and learning assistance programs and services of colleges and universities. Special emphasis will be directed to meeting the individual learning needs of those students who have traditionally been underrepresented in post-secondary education such as ethnic minorities and students with physical and educational disabilities. This will include but not be limited to the following objectives/goals:
a. To share ideas and information;
b. To develop and share tutorial materials, methods, techniques, and procedures;
c. To evaluate materials, methods, procedures, techniques and services;
d. To inform the public, college administration, and legislative bodies of Association goals, objectives, programs and services;
e. To coordinate ACTLA goals with other related organizations;
f. To support efforts of individual colleges as they relate to Association goals;
g. To support research and practice in the field of tutorial and learning assistance;
h. To advance the profession and discipline of tutorial and learning assistance;
i. To make recommendations to state administrative and legislative bodies.
ACTLA on Social Media!
Learning Support Center in Higher Education
ACTLA is a member of the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations.
Learning Assistance Programs