2023 Student Academic Support Programs Conference

Our theme this year is inspired by the original tradition of Mardi Gras, when the flambeaux (or flaming torch) was carried by individuals – originally enslaved men and free men of color – who walked as part of the Mardi Gras parade, holding the flambeaux to light the night and thereby providing those participating illumination for their path. Since its origin, the tradition of the flambeaux has become an art form, with carriers incorporating twirls, tricks, and dancing. The 2023 SASP Conference theme is: Lighting the Way for Student Success.

In keeping with the tradition of empowering our students, this year’s conference logo was designed by a Texas State student. The artist, Kathryn Kane, is a graduate student pursuing a master of arts in rhetoric & composition and is a current SLAC Lab Verbal Tutor. Thank you Kathryn!

Saundra McGuire

Emerita Professor – Chemical Education

Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire is the Director Emerita of the Center for Academic Success and retired Assistant Vice Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry at Louisiana State University (LSU). Prior to joining LSU, she spent eleven years at Cornell University, where she received the coveted Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. She has delivered keynote addresses or presented workshops at over 400 institutions in 46 states and ten countries. Her book, Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation, was released in October 2015 and is a Stylus Publishing bestseller. The student version of this book, Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to Ace Any Course at Any Level, was released in January 2018.

The most recent of her honors include the 2017 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students to Pursue Careers in the Chemical Sciences and induction into the LSU College of Science Hall of Distinction. She also received the 2015 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Lifetime Mentor Award and the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). She is an elected Fellow of the ACS, AAAS, and Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations (CLADEA). In November 2007 the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring was presented to her in a White House Oval Office Ceremony. Additionally, she has achieved Level Four Lifetime Learning Center Leadership Certification through the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA).

She received her B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, her Master's degree from Cornell and her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she received the Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Professional Promise. She is married to Dr. Stephen C. McGuire, a professor of physics at Southern. They are the parents of Dr. Carla McGuire Davis and Dr. Stephanie McGuire, and the doting grandparents of Joshua, Ruth, Daniel, and Joseph Davis.