Check Out the Tutoring Center

By Whitney Davis · The Mainstream
Published February 8, 2012

Need help with that math assignment? Is that essay not exactly writing itself? Don’t worry; tutors are available to all students for free.

“Tutoring is freaking awesome. If it weren’t for here, I wouldn’t be passing my math class,” said Kelli Montgomery.

Unlike four year colleges, UCC offers free tutoring. U of O, for example, charges $125 per course per term for biweekly sessions.

Here on campus, students looking for tutors can find them in Educational Skills Building room 15 everyday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free and convenient without students having to make an appointment.

Tutors offer individual sessions as well as group sessions with more peer input. 

Tutors help students in math, writing, Spanish, physiology, engineering, business, history, biology and more.

“We want more people coming in because we know it helps them,” said Vicky Formosa, bridge and tutor coordinator. “Almost always what people say is how it saved them and how they wished they’d come in sooner.”

The tutors are students themselves who go through a total of 10 hours of training per term. Tutors are paid minimum wage. To become a tutor, students must have received an A in the class they wish to tutor, have attended UCC for at least one term prior to tutoring, have recommendations by an instructor and department chair and currently be enrolled in six credits.

“I like tutoring. It helps the person tutoring keep things fresh. It’s kind of rewarding because you’re helping people,” said Fylecia Hennebeck, student tutor.

Students interested in tutoring can contact Vicki Formosa at 541-440-7733 or vicki.formosa@umpqua.edu.

Besides at ESB 15, students can also find one-on-one tutoring in the Transfer Opportunity Program. TOP’s campus tutoring program is only for students who qualify. In order to get tutoring through TOP, students must be in the program (also free of charge). To qualify for TOP, students must be a U.S. citizen, have an academic need, be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credits, have low taxable income and be a first generation college student or have a physical or learning disability. The TOP application can be found online at www.umpqua.edu/top-how-to-apply or from the TOP staff located in Campus Center.

TOP’s peer tutoring is used by 37 percent of the program’s students, and TOP currently has 57 tutors. TOP matches individuals to tutors that will benefit him or her the most. Tutoring sessions in TOP are made by appointment. Students get the individual attention they need for an hour per session.

Non-TOP students can still be TOP tutors without qualifying for the program. TOP tutors must complete three training sessions to be certified. This certification carries on to most universities and increases these students’ chances of obtaining a tutoring job after UCC.

Students interested in tutoring for TOP must have an A or B in the class they want to tutor in and have a faculty recommendation. For more information, contact Corrie Sommerfeld at 541-440-7746.

UCC is also currently working on implementing an online tutoring system that will allow students access to tutors at anytime. The program “Smart Thinking,” which has been purchased already, allows students to get tutoring in real time with “expert educators,” according to smarthinking.com. Students who don’t need immediate feedback can leave a question. When an answer is ready, the system notifies the student. Students can also set up appointments for one-on-one tutoring sessions. Each student will get a certain time allotment per term.