Student Senate working to increase tutoring options on campus

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Students in search of a tutor will soon have a new place to look. Student Senate is updating its list of student tutors, which will provide the names and contact information for KU students who are available to tutor various courses or subjects and will be posted on the Senate Web site.

Student tutors decide their own schedules and pay rates and operate independently of Student Senate.

Hannah Love, KU alumnus and last year’s student body president, started the list from scratch in Fall 2005.

“This was one of the best resources for students to find an independent tutor on campus,” said J.J. Siler, Overland Park junior and chairman of the academic services board, which manages the list.

Siler said the list had not been updated significantly for two years, and the 220 students on the old list had already graduated. Grant Treaster, Shawnee junior and last year’s chairman of the academic services board, said he tried to find students for the tutor list but didn’t have much success.

“It was just a really tough process,” Treaster said. “I think we had five new people that e-mailed me and we put them on the list.”

Treaster said he was glad to see the board trying to repopulate the list so students could have that resource for help with coursework.

Siler said the greatest need for tutors was in entry-level courses in popular subjects such as math, biology and chemistry.

“A lot of students find they need the most help with those because it’s a brand new subject,” Siler said.

Siler said Student Senate did not require tutors to pass any tests or have a certain level proficiency in the subject they tutor.

“If you want to do group sessions, you can do that,” Siler said. “It’s so flexible. It can fit anything you need.”

He said there was no contract between tutors and students. If students are dissatisfied, they can look up another tutor on the list.

Siler said the board was working to fill its tutor list with as many names as possible so students had one more place to turn when they needed help with their academics.

Currently, students can also find a tutor through KU Tutoring Services or can independently hire an individual or company.

KU Tutoring Services connects students with a tutor to meet for an hour and a half twice a week for one semester. Faculty members recommend all tutors in the program to KU Tutoring Services.

Kristin Scott, KU Tutoring Services program director, said the structure allowed tutors to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the students they worked with and help students with test preparation. She said the program had 60 tutors.

Hannah Schultheis, Carrollton, Texas, senior, tutors for the Kansas Algebra Program, located on the third level of Strong Hall. The program provides tutors in a group atmosphere to provide free homework help to students.

Schultheis said that although she rarely tutored the same student for more than five minutes, she saw students leave the help room with increased confidence.

“People come in all depressed because they can’t do anything and feel better about it when they leave,” Schultheis said.

She said some students would benefit from the routine of having the same tutor all semester, but because of the difference in teaching and learning styles, the come-and-go tutoring format worked well.

Siler said the board was working to fill its tutor list with as many names as possible so students had one more place to turn when they needed help with their academics.

— — Edited by Scott R. Toland

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