“Language tutoring program offers walk-in service” plus 1 more |
| Language tutoring program offers walk-in service Posted: 27 Jan 2011 08:06 PM PST Meet SPOT, the new free walk-in tutoring program hosted by various professors in Miami University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese. SPOT, which is an acronym for Spanish and Portuguese Opening Tutoring, made its debut Jan. 24. Students in the introductory levels of the two languages can come to a small center in Irvin Hall to receive quick, efficient tutoring from professors and faculty. Marylene Lux, a visiting instructor in the Spanish and Portuguese department, has been instrumental in getting the new tutoring program off the ground. "The tutoring program is basically something that we're doing to help out students who can't make it to office hours," Lux said. "Pretty much every semester we've had students who either happen to have classes during their professors' office hours or come to them asking where they can go for tutoring." Both Lux and Department Chair Robert DiDonato emphasized the walk-in nature of the program to distinguish it from Spanish and Portuguese tutoring available at the Rinella Learning Center. "A student might have a minor issue, so rather than having to spend a full hour with the tutor, you can come in, get your question taken care of and go on your way," Lux said. She said it will also help with crowding at the learning center. "Another problem we've come across is that a lot of tutors from the Rinella Center get taken up during the first couple weeks," Lux said. "When it gets later in the semester, none of the tutors might be available because they're already taken, so when you need the help immediately, there might not be anyone available." According to DiDonato, one of the best things about SPOT is it lets students interact with different faculty, perhaps leading to better understanding of the material. "Often students will get help from a different instructor than their own," DiDonato said. "Sometimes getting things explained by someone else is a good thing, and people have different ways of explaining and coming across." David Motta, a lecturer involved in SPOT, said the tutoring program started by offering walk-in tutoring sessions 13 hours a week and may eventually offer continuous help all day, every day. Professors participate in SPOT by donating one of their office hours per week to spend time in the center. Sophomore Aaren Henry, a Spanish education major, said the program is a good service to offer to entry-level students. "I think it's great," Henry said. "I think any help that people in this school can get from such a small department is nice." Henry also said there is a need in entry-level classes for this type of program. "It's helpful for (students), especially if they haven't been exposed to the language for a while or at all," Henry said. "With the added factor of needing it as a graduation requirement, it'll help a lot of people." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Local tutoring program to move into BC dorm Posted: 21 Jan 2011 01:10 AM PST After sitting dormant for over five years, two storefronts at 110th Street and Manhattan Avenue may see activity as early as this summer. Plans are progressing for the relocation of a local tutoring program, which will move from 88th and Columbus Avenue to two unoccupied spaces in Barnard's Cathedral Gardens residence hall. Gregory Brown, Barnard's chief operating officer, said that he expects construction to take place either this summer or the summer of 2012 for the new location of Goddard Riverside Community Center's OPTIONS tutoring program. "We're encouraged by the community's support for the project and hope the plans come together in the spring," Brown said in an email, adding that planning and fundraising efforts for the move have already begun. One of 27 programs that Goddard Riverside runs throughout the Upper West Side and Harlem, OPTIONS provides SAT preparation and college admissions counseling for students from low-income and middle-income backgrounds. The partnership will provide Goddard Riverside—which provides food, shelter, and education services—with over 5,000 square feet of property that has been vacant since Barnard reserved the two storefronts for community space after completing its Cathedral Gardens dorms on 110th Street in 2006. OPTIONS came into the picture after original plans to turn the space into a day care center were scrapped. Because the space is partially underground—a potential fire hazard—the city's Administration for Children's Services declared the property inappropriate for child care. The arrival of OPTIONS will also provide Barnard with an opportunity to increase involvement with local high school students, especially after Barnard ended its Liberty Partnerships tutoring program for area youth last year due to increased costs and lack of state funding. While the college is launching a pilot program called Barnard CITY—Community Involved in Tutoring Youth—to address the immediate needs of former Liberty students, Barnard staff said OPTIONS's move will provide more choices. "Barnard CITY involves Barnard and CU students who tutor, recruit volunteers, and make referrals for students and families," said Vivian Taylor, Barnard's chief of staff and vice president of community development, in an email. "Many former Liberty students are enrolled in other neighborhood programs, including OPTIONS." Brown added that he hopes Barnard volunteers will become involved with the program once it opens. "We see the relationship with Goddard Riverside as a partnership, so an essential element will be the opportunity to involve the Barnard community," Brown said. Mark Diller, CC '80 and chair of Community Board 7's Youth, Education, and Libraries Committee, said the move will be beneficial to OPTIONS because it will provide the program with a larger space while increasing its proximity to the neighborhoods where most of its students live. "It's bursting at the seams and can't fit in the space they have been occupying," Diller said of the program's current location at 88th Street. "The core constituency in terms of students comes from north of this location as opposed to south of it." "It's a program that has a record of success, and we think that it's a great use for the space," said Mel Wymore, chair of Community Board 7, which passed a resolution in November in support of the project. Lily Owen, director of planning and special projects for Goddard Riverside, said the new location will serve current students better and attract future students. "There's a lot of need uptown that hopefully we'll be able to meet in terms of college access and success," she said. "Having it at the storefront, from our side, is going to make it that much more welcoming and appealing to students." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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