Learning assistance programs: Help available for students from their first day on campus to their last

The tutoring program at Southeast Missouri State University provides free learning assistance to all Southeast students from the time they are freshmen until they complete their doctoral work.

University Tutorial Services is nationally certified through the College Reading and Learning Association and has held this certification since 2001. The tutors, who officially are called learning assistants, are students who have received a B or higher in the course they are tutoring and hold a 3.0 GPA in their major.

Learning Assistance Programs, which includes University Tutorial Services, provide services to Southeast students to enhance both academic and personal enrichment skills through a holistic approach. Tutoring in most classes, open lab tutoring for highly requested classes and supplemental instructions are all available.

"A lot of the services we provide through Learning Assistance Programs are voluntary and involuntary," said Valdis Zalite, the director of Student Support Services. "We work with the students that are on academic probation, but we also provide assistance to the students who voluntarily want to get the assistance."

According to Zalite, around 350 to 400 students request tutoring each semester out of more than 11,000 students that are enrolled. University Tutorial Services has received approximately 200 requests this semester and that number will continue to rise, primarily around the eighth week of the semester and toward the end of the semester due to midterms and finals.

"The average amount continues to increase, which is helpful for us because over the past couple of years our services have improved," Zalite said. "And with the improvement in services, we've had an increase in requests. Obviously, those things are tied together."

Freshman nursing major Juliana Baumann signed up before the academic year even began because passing anatomy and physiology is a requirement for her major, and she had heard it was a difficult course. She said the services are definitely helping.

"I like it one-on-one because the class is a lecture class, so it's huge," Baumann said. "I can ask them whatever questions I have, and I feel more comfortable."

Sophomore pharmacy major Demetria Wright is being tutored in Spanish, chemistry and college algebra.

"I know that I would not do the classes by myself," Wright said. "I actually need the extra push and the extra help, and there will be some times when I can't understand anything and the tutor is always right there to help me."

Wright did say she has found a small setback with the program. She has begun improving in Spanish and college algebra, but chemistry is still causing her a few problems.

"I think it's just the way he's trying to teach or he's trying to help," Wright said. "He's not comfortable or maybe I'm asking too hard of questions that he may not be able to answer right away."

Wright said that her learning assistant is a first-year tutor, so that may be part of the problem. However, sophomore applied mathematics major James Reinholdt started tutoring at the beginning of this semester and he hasn't encountered the same communication problem that Wright has. He has found a different problem with the services.

"The only other possible downside doesn't come so much from the program, but it comes from when people don't quite understand that we're not here to help you do your homework, but rather to help you understand how to do your homework," Reinholdt said.

Senior biomedical science major Jared Frisby has been employed as a learning assistant for about a year and says that sometimes he runs into the same predicament.

"Sometimes students expect me to do the work for them, but I never give them the information," Frisby said. "I try to make it to where they understand it, and then they can enjoy it."

Both Reinholdt and Frisby find that this problem is a minor issue, and they both really enjoy working for the program.

"My overall goal is to help people study better or develop better studying skills," Frisby said. "Everyone has a little procrastination problem and my goal is to break that mold. Study a little bit, and then understand the material instead of waiting until the last minute and then not understanding it at all."

According to Zalite, mathematics-related courses, anatomy and physiology and chemistry are predominately the courses being tutored. The services are not just limited to those courses, however, and students with classes in any department can get help in one way or another.

"If we do not have a learning assistant that provides assistance with the course requested, we do make referrals to additional resources as applicable," Zalite said. "Additionally, we recommend that the student speak with his or her professor, develop a small study group if they can and we also review their notes."