Visor Center offers workshops, extended hours as finals approach

Image Courtesy of Illinois State University

NORMAL, Ill. – Finals Week at Illinois State University is just around the corner, and University College and the Julia N. Visor Center are resources students can use for academic assistance.

The Visor Center, located between Hewett and Manchester residence halls, primarily serves students enrolled in 100-level general education classes. This has been the case since its opening in 2009.

With finals week for 2025 approaching, the university is offering several resources to help students prepare for their exams.

One of these services being offered is the Preparing for Finals workshop. Lorelei Starkey, the Program Support Specialist for Academic Support, outlined the workshop’s benefits for students.

“The workshop covers everything students need to know about how to prepare for upcoming exams, how to deal with test taking, and how to manage their time,” Starkey said.

Another service is the Finals Blitz sessions, which are open to all students regardless of whether they have previously used the Visor Center for assistance.

“We have multiple Finals Blitz sessions that we have tutoring for,” Starkey said.

The Visor Center also has extended hours leading up to finals week.

“During the week we are hosting all of our Finals Blitz sessions, we are open until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, unless its Friday, in which we close at 4:30 p.m.,” Starkey said.

Starkey provided advice for students leading into finals week.

“The best advice for preparing for final exams is to start as early as you can, and have a plan for what you would like to do and spreading it across multiple days,” Starkey said.

The Finals Blitz sessions begin Monday, Dec. 1, and final exams for ISU students begin Monday Dec. 8.