By China Goodson and Elizabeth Coss
An integral part of any university is ensuring students can achieve a degree; for many students, tutoring becomes a heavily sought after necessity to achieve their dream careers, and that’s where the Resch Center for Academic Success steps in.
Becky Varian, director of the Resch Center, stressed tutoring, coaching and any form of academic assistance is common.
“Tutoring is a very normal thing to do in college. You’re going to have very challenging courses, so don’t wait to sign up. Don’t wait until after you’ve bombed your first test. Do [tutoring] before that first test and see how you do on it and then determine if you’d like to continue with [tutoring],” Varian said.
Within the center’s peer tutoring program, there are 84 tutors and staff available to aid students in over 200 courses. Tutors are required to be proficient in a class they’ve taken, and pass with an A or B grade.
The Resch Center also provides academic coaching, which helps students gain hands-on help figuring out how they learn and can learn better.
“We have … four graduate assistant interns to do one-on-one coaching and three professional coaches and they work with students to figure out how you learn,” Varian said.
A newer service the center added during the pandemic was tutor.com, which allows students to access tutor services after hours through the help of professional tutors.
Since the pandemic, Varian noted an increase of students seeking services since last year.
“We had a 50% increase in requests for tutoring compared to a year ago,” Varian said. “A year ago when we started tutoring, we had the first week at like 100 or some visits [from students]. We’ve already had 300 visits [from students] for next week, so we’re really excited about that.”
Passion Hylton, a senior communications major who’s received tutoring at the Resch Center for many years, talked about how helpful it is.
“I attended tutoring for several classes at the Resch Center,” she said. “Every subject I got help from, I received an A in the class. Talking and working with my tutors helped encourage and motivate me more when it comes to my schoolwork. I can honestly say in the subjects I studied I feel confident enough to teach it to others.”
Hylton also encouraged students who may be afraid to seek assistance to take that first step.
“I recommend tutoring for all students, if you feel you’re struggling or afraid to ask for help, don’t be. If it wasn’t for my tutors I don’t know what I’d do,” she said.
For those seeking assistance academically and are interested in the Resch Center, go to YSU’s website.
Students can fill out a request form for an academic coach, schedule tutoring or learn more about how to become a tutor. For more information, students can call the office at (330) 941-3583.