On Friday, September 28, 2018, one of my professors told me that the Learning Commons at CCAC Allegheny Campus was being closed. Without any warning ahead of time, that very Friday, six to seven people lost their paid jobs at the Learning Commons... just like that. This valuable, nay, critical service to students had just disappeared, and in its absence, has caused a void in the campus that is hurting the lives of both teachers and students alike who depended on this service in one way or another.

On behalf of those students and teachers, I, Craig A. Wolfley Jr., humbly request that you would support this petition, not only to restore the Learning Commons, but also to restore the lost careers and education paths of those affected by this sad incident.

WHAT ARE THE LEARNING COMMONS?

According to the CCAC website, "The Learning Commons is a quiet, resource-rich place to do homework and to study, with a professional educator nearby to help you when you become stuck or have a question."

... Or that's what it used to be. With your help, we can voice our opinion to bring back that which is now gone.

WHY DO WE NEED THE LEARNING COMMONS?

Simply put, many CCAC students need tutors.

American inventor and innovator Charles F. Kettering once said, "There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it."

That is what tutoring is all about - understanding.

Teachers give us what we need to know about something; tutors help us to find greater understanding and comprehension about something. In a way, tutors act as a medium through which the river of learning, between the teacher and the student, can be unblocked and allowed to flow freely.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

For five years, the Learning Commons had been funded by a grant from the Heinz Foundation. This year, 2018, was the last year that the grant functioned. There had been preparations made for the CCAC Allegheny Campus to absorb the Learning Commons into itself, thus, allowing the program to be funded by the college. However, as soon as the grant ended, the higher-ups of CCAC shot down this plan... and now here we are, with an awful learning gap in our beautiful place of education and academic excellence.

At least six individuals have already lost their paid jobs at the Learning Commons, and some have no other career plans to fall back on. And the worst part is that they were uninformed about this until the day the program was dissolved.

Job loss is tragic, albeit, it is also a normal part of life. Perhaps, this fact is not startling to you at all. It's just a few people losing their jobs, right?

Wrong.

It is students, many students, losing their chance to succeed, or at least being impeded in their educational pathway. And when an institution is dealing with people who are paying their money and giving up of their everyday life purely to gain knowledge and experience, then it is that institution's solemn duty and obligation to not only teach those people, but to help them progress, nay, excel in their learning, one day, one hour, and one minute at a time.

Tutors are the ones who spend those minutes, those hours, those days to help those students to excel.

Without the Learning Commons, there is a lack of tutors.

With a lack of tutors comes a lack of excellence.

Yet, our fair community college, which represents our city, our state, and our country, should shine out as a beacon of excellence. We cannot and should not stand for less.

By supporting this petition, you are standing for excellence, both in academics and in ethics. Thank you.

For more information about the Learning Commons, visit: https://www.ccac.edu/Learning_Commons.aspx