Article: 20
LASSI Saves the Day
by Robert Phaneuf
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Southmost College

Prior to 2001, Lassi was only a canine hero, a beautiful collie, that week-after-week saved the day for Timmy or his friends and family from impending disaster. In the Spring Semester of 2001, my world changed.  Something else suddenly had the same name as my favorite collie of yesteryear. LASSI, the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, now stood for an instrument, designed to avert certain disasters for unsuspecting students entering the precarious world of higher education. The self-reported diagnostic tool for evaluating a would-be student’s learning and study practices and attitudes would be as helpful to avert certain disasters as the first Lassi.

I first met my new-found LASSI friend while teaching University Experience classes at Rhode Island Community College.  During the first five weeks of the semester, the curriculum focused on student success skills measured by the ten LASSI scales. The students were given the assessment to help them not only learn where they stood regarding the necessary skills needed for student success but also to pave the way for implementing newly-learned strategies to reach this success.

In 2003, I accepted a position as a counselor in the Student Support Services Program/ASPIRE at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Soon afterward, LASSI was used in the screening process for all new students in the program. As the Academic Counselor in the Student Success Center, I've used the LASSI with our student-athletes, students who self-refer for academic counseling, and the College Assistance Migrant Program (C.A.M.P.).

Currently, there are plans for incorporating the LASSI in our NCB-1000 curriculum, a course designed to assist all students who have not complied with the Texas Success Initiative policy (College Ready).  In fall 2009, our Academic Advising Center will require students who have academic success contracts, due to low GPA's, to complete the LASSI.

LASSI has come not only to the rescue of students who need study skills counseling but also to the rescue of those in need of strategies for achieving their academic goals. I believe the instrument is useful for all students entering college. LASSI provides an excellent visual presentation of student strengths and weaknesses by focusing on the skills necessary for academic success.  I applaud Dr. Weinstein and her colleagues for their well-thought-out work that culminated in the LASSI that provides strategic assistance for students who otherwise might become victims of academic disaster. LASSI is still saving the day!

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