Tutoring services: supporting academic success

By Stephanie Mosier, Assistant Director for the Learning Assistance Center

As proud parents of Xavier students, you recognize the importance of the academic support services available to help your student succeed in college. The Learning Assistance Center (LAC) is one of many offices at Xavier committed to supporting students’ success. The LAC offers various tutoring services, free of charge, to all Xavier students. These tutoring services include one-on-one subject-specific tutoring, study skills assistance, drop-in tutoring sessions and supplemental instruction (SI) sessions.

At this time, midterm grades have been posted, allowing students to gauge their progress in courses. If there’s a class in which your student would like additional support, she may consider requesting a tutor. To request a tutor, a student may come to the LAC on the first floor of Kuhlman Hall—the entrance is in the breezeway between Husman and Kuhlman Halls—or complete a request form online. Currently, the LAC has received more than 500 tutoring requests for one-on-one tutoring in almost all subjects offered on campus—from Spanish to biology to calculus to accounting. There’s a chance that your student may be placed on a wait list. However, we have additional tutoring resources to which we can refer your student, some of which are discussed below.

In addition to one-on-one tutoring, the LAC offers drop-in tutoring sessions in music theory, Spanish, anatomy and physiology and physics. For an hour or two each week, a tutor is available and students in the course need only to “drop-in” to ask questions and receive assistance. The schedule for drop-in sessions is posted online at our web site and around campus, including in the LAC windows that face the green space.

The supplemental instruction (SI) program provides additional support to students in historically difficult courses. At Xavier, SI is offered for general biology, general chemistry and organic chemistry. SI leaders are trained LAC tutors who attend the class they support and provide one-hour review sessions three times a week, integrating “how to learn” with “what to learn.” Research has shown that students who participate in these study sessions earn higher course grades, withdraw less often and have higher reenrollment and graduation rates than non-participants. This is the third year that SI has been offered and it has been highly successful.

Additional tutoring resources at Xavier include the math lab, located on the first floor of Hinkle Hall and the writing center, in the basement of Alter Hall. If your student would like assistance in math or writing, please encourage them to utilize these resources as well.

At Xavier, our goal is your student’s success. Please feel free to contact the LAC at 513-745-3280 if you have any questions or would like additional information about these tutoring services.