UW-Eau Claire’s Academic Skills Center (ASC) was established in the 1970s amid a variety of circumstances. In the preceding decade, enrollment had dramatically increased from 2,480 in 1963 to 8,701 in 1973 (Carter & Jenswold, 157). However, these increasing numbers were accompanied by high rates of students dropping out; in the 1963-64 academic year, 17% of students were on probation or suspended (Gough & Oberly, 133).

Throughout this time, the faculty and staff at UWEC consistently complained to high-schools regarding the “large number of first-year students needing remedial work in reading, writing, and mathematics.” (Gough & Oberly, 204). The university needed to retain and attract more students and address the incidence of poor academic performance and the high dropout rate. The university administration saw the need to provide guidance and support. This support would come in the establishment of special organizations for students in the 1970s, including the ASC.

Andrea Gapko, along with two other professors at the university, were addressing the challenges of poor academic performance by serving as professional tutors in the later 1970s. They proposed that students could be trained and function as tutors under their professional supervision at a lower cost. On December 1, 1977, the three proposed to create an Academic Skills Center. In the spring of 1978, the ASC was created. For the next 33 years, Gapko would helm the ASC and participate in the work of various committees until her retirement in 2011. During the ensuing decades, UWEC went through many changes and challenges with seven chancellors, different faculty initiatives, and decreasing state funding.

Initially, the value of the ASC was that it offered help with the three basics: reading, writing and mathematics. However, over the years, it was also able to branch out into subjects like Chemistry, Biology, Statistics, foreign languages, and other courses which were considered difficult by students.