HU Hacks is a learning enhancement seminar being held eight times this semester to help students in their first year experience.

“I see students all the time and they are struggling with a wide variety of things; ranging from using canvas, to resume building, to using social media to their advantage, to managing stress, or how to learn the best,” Academic Resource Coordinator Stephanie O’Brian said.

First-year students have the opportunity to be involved with like Impact or Stampede. For many, this is a chaotic time and some students have difficulty retaining information about classes since it is not immediately applicable. In years past, the Center for Student Success has held similar seminars, but they did it all in consecutive days for one week.

“Rather than overloading them with information, we wanted to approach this sharing information in a little different format, over a longer period of time, possibly hitting them when they are more receptive to the topic that is being explored,” Director of First Year Experience Kevin Kehl said.

The first of the eight seminars was held Jan. 22 and was titled “Can You Canvas?: Learning the Ins and Outs of Canvas.” The student attendance was low, but it can easily be concluded that it was due to the fact that many students and faculty did not know it was occurring this early.

“It sounded like a great idea,” freshman Creighton McMaster said. “I was little behind in a class and I could get behind in other classes if I wasn’t on top of canvas.”

This circumstance reigns true for a lot of students here on campus, especially first year students, and these seminars would be a boost in the right direction of wherever one needs help.

“Our job in a nutshell at the Center for Student Success is to bless the students,” O’Brian said. “Students still have the opportunity to attend seminars over time management, learning style, stress management, navigating the library, major choice, test-taking skills and use of social media.

The time and location of the seminar varies every week, but information can be found on Pipeline, in chapel announcements and on fliers around campus.