BY JEREMY SOTO

SC Staff Writer

 

Like many things at ESU, the Tutoring Center has undergone some pretty big changes over the last two months.

Some of the changes include a new and streamlined way of requesting and matching tutors, an in-house database of tutors and their skills/expertise, and new tutoring options such as group tutoring and supplementary learning sessions.

Recently, many students have been fed up with the Center and Dr. Trushcel because of the lack of tutoring actually going on.

Jack Truschel, Director of Dept. of Academic Enrichment and Learning (DAEL), and Advisor to Undeclared students, is a busy man.

In addition to his above responsibilities on Sept. 11, he began his duty of running the Center with 800 student request pending and not a single file on any of the over 85 professional/peer tutors.

The reason Truschel didn’t start working earlier? Administration didn’t hire a full-time replacement to run the Center, and at  that week three, the Center still had no mechanisms in place to handle any request processing.

By week six however, Truschel had filled most of the request with only one student remaining unmatched.

Students can now go online and request a tutor to whatever particular class they need help in.

Truschel has implemented a system in which the more students that request a particular subject the more likely a tutor will be found and therefore provided.

For large classes, such as 75 seat lecture classes that have a high rate of low performing students (C or below), the Tutoring Center has something even better… supplementary learning!

Professional tutors will sit in class, meet with professors for an hour a week, and then group-tutoring sessions will be held where you can discuss concepts/theories that you didn’t understand in class.

There are also aspirations by the DAEL to attain a CRLA certification, a nationally recognized and accredited certification for schools that succeed in providing high quality professional tutors to students.

In addition to these aspirations the DAEL now requires that all tutors sign confidentiality forms and go through sexual harassment training—something the Administration is surely supportive of—in order to provide the best tutoring experiences to students.

I must admit when Dr. Truschel informed me of all the Tutoring Center was doing I was rather impressed considering the impending consequences I may face as a result of ESU’s resolving its budget crisis by means of retrenchment and other department cuts.

But then I began to wonder how the on-going budget crisis would affect/has affected the program.

So I asked Dr. Truschel and his response: “The tutoring budget has not been cut at all. As a matter of fact, if I need more, I’m certain the administration will give me more money if I show a need and that is the truth. The administration is supportive of student success and they’re behind us on this. “

So fellow students, no need to worry, your Tutoring Center is up and running with new methods in place that will speed up communication, create fluidity, and provide you with great tutors. You’re all set to achieve success!

The Tutoring Center may become the best way to achieve academic success once ESU resolves its issues, but for now and until then, at least you know that the Tutoring Center is willing to provide supplementary learning experiences through cheaper labor and in way that perfectly suits retrenchment.

To request a tutor, log on at esu.edu/academics/enrichment_learning/tutoring. The last day to request a tutor is November 14, 2013.

 

Email Jeremy at :

jas5456@live.esu.edu