There are many services offered at Eastern Michigan University to help students get through their more challenging classes. With a new school year underway, it may seem too early to talk about study assistance. But how many of us actually ask for that help before it is too late?
Leah Rigney, a senior double majoring in math and Spanish, works in the Holman Success Center. Rigney, who has nearly worked all positions in the center, starting from a tutor, to a tutor team leader, all the way up to a master tutor, wants students to know what these services can offer that they may unaware of.
For a student to get a tutor, simply go to emich.edu/hsc and click “book an appointment” at the bottom of the page. Students can also visit in person at the south commons desk located on the first floor of Halle Library near the University Writing Center.
“Tutoring is a peer-to-peer service and we try to keep a set schedule,” Rigney said. “It usually works better with the tutor and the student.”
The tutor program is not a drop-in service, so it provides the student with a set schedule with their tutor. When a student is booking a tutor, there will be a list of availability for each tutor. From there, students can simply book the tutor with the open availability for the time that works for them and for the rest of the semester, the student shall meet with their tutor on that time and day every week.
Another service offered by the tutor program is online tutoring. This service, unlike the one-on-one service, is a drop-in service. Students log on to EMUhsc.askonline.net, find the class they are seeking help with, and instantly communicate with a tutor in that field. This is more flexible for most students. A student can stay online for up to six hours, or hop on to ask one question.
A great number of students build a relationship with their tutor as well. Rigney is still in touch with some of her students, and in some ways misses the one-on-one connection she had with students since the adopting the online tutoring services.
“I miss the direct contact,” Rigney said. “I really miss helping students in math classes and watching as a student has an ‘aha’ moment when they understand a concept.”
As a master tutor, she now organizes the training programs tutors must go through. To be a tutor in the center, all students must have one semester at EMU under their belt before applying for the position. Once hired, students go through different training programs to best know how to assist
and tutor students of all ethnic and social backgrounds.
The Holman Success Center also offers supplemental instruction, which is offered for most 200 and 300 course level classes. Both the tutor ingand supplemental instruction services are free.
It is always better to be overprepared, so before it’s too late and all tutors are all taken up, book one now.
