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THE UNIVERSITY OF JARY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
CAMPUS
Caitlin Hilton, Lawrence sophomore, reviews a psychology lesson with Sam Stepp, Mission Hills first year graduate student, in Strong Hall during a tutoring session Wednesday morning. Hilton is one of about 180 students using the Student Educational Services peer-tutoring service. Stepp has been tutoring students in psychology and history since Fall 2007.
Peer tutoring benefits both parties
BY RYAN MCGEENEY
rmcgeeney@kansan.com
Although she was an honorroll student in high school, Xavier Hankins' first year of college "started off kind of rough." Hawkins, a first-generation college student, enrolled in the the Student Educational Services peer-tutoring program that semester. She said she had used tutoring to maximum effect every semester since.
"I find it easier if I have somebody there to talk about the work with," Hankins, Kansas City, Kan., fifth-year senior, said. "No matter if it's a theory course or a Western Civ. course, if I could just sit and talk to somebody about the work and get their views and opinions on it, that kind of helps me to understand it more."
The Student Educational Services program arranges peer-tutoring sessions for as many as 250 students who qualify each semester. The program is beneficial for both students who are struggling and their peer-tutors.
Because SES is funded through the U.S. Department of Education and relies on competitive grants, the program carefully tracks peer-tutoring data. SES sets achievement goals in four areas — persistence, student academic standing, graduation rates and tutoring session attendance — and has consistently surpassed those goals,
get involved
To qualify for tutoring, a student must:
· Apply at Room 7. Strong Ha
- Apply at Room 7, Strong Hall
and
- Demonstrate academic need and
- Be a first-generation college student
- Come from a low-income background
- Have a registered disability
To work as an SES tutor, a student must:
- Have completed 12 hours of coursework in the subject they are hired to tutor **and**
- Have a 3.0 GPA or better
Gretchen Heasty, SES program coordinator, said.
Sam Stepp, Mission Hills firstyear graduate student, began tutoring in his senior year, while he was completing majors in history, political science and psychology.
"I was thinking about graduate school, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get experience working with students one-on-one," Stepp said. "I had heard wonderful things about the program, and I wanted to be a part of it."
Stepp said that tutoring had
been one of his most rewarding experiences at the University.
"I was so proud when (a student) came back and said they had gotten an A on their test, because you could see the excitement in their eyes. You could tell they were proud of what they had done, and I was proud of myself, too. I felt like I was a part of that," Stepp said.
The strict reliance on students to provide academic assistance to their peers, and their willingness to adapt to individual students' circumstances, is a point of pride for Rod Oelschlager, SES Academic Coordinator.
"We do a lot of catch-up work with students who are under-prepared to handle their college course", Oelschlager said. "That's what's so amazing about our peer tutoring staff: They're willing to step up and go well beyond just
tutoring what's in that particular course according to the syllabus. They're willing to step back and help students get caught up."
The three most-requested tutoring subjects come from students dealing with the complexities of mathematics and sciences, Oelschlager said.
"It's a pretty dead-even heat," Oelschlager said. "Mathematics certainly would be at the top of the list, with chemistry and biology being close seconds."
Oelshlager said many students
who were enrolled in the program were taking high-level classes. "My requests at this point are all at the upper level. That makes it particularly difficult to find good tutors, but we've been fortunate so far and managed to do that," he said.
Currently about 180 students are enrolled in tutoring sessions, and the program is still taking applications. The program's semester limit of 250 students is usually reached mid-October, Heaty said.
Edited Becka Cremer
successful stats
Welcome to the New Members of Alpha Chi Omega
70 percent SES' work for percentage of tutored students who continue their studies until graduation
80. 4 percent Actual percentage of the students in the program who have continued studies until graduation
Ell Abernathy
Charlotte Adams
Natalie Bunting
Alison Calhoun
Ali Colliatie
Kelsey Coplen
Ali Coyle
Sarah Dechant
Jamie Domingues
Kelly Doran
Jordan Ehle
Jordan Frederick
Haley Freeman
Allie Gould
Hollie Haskins
Teri Hopkins
Deven Hopp
Stephanie Jordahl
Liz Keller
Taylor Kelley
Mo Lahey
Shelley Larson
Molly Martin
Morgan Maxon
Emily McCoy
Justine Meckes
Elizabeth Miller
Shelby Monaco
Kathleen Moore
Megan Oliver
Erika O'Shea
Sophie Pepper
Alicia Ring
Megan Ritter
Lindyn Roush
Anne Salvato
Alex Schreiner
Merica Schreiner
Rachel Scott
Nicky Shah
Tana Spears
Delaney Stout
Julie Thomas
Kristen Tierhold
Laura Updike
Danielle Urso
Megan Waggy
Rachel Ward
Devin Wiegers
Kristin Winke
86 percent Percentage of SES program participants who maintained good academic standing at the University
97. 3 percent Percentage of participants who received full academic credit for courses for which they were being tutored in
the spring of 2007
49. 7 percent Percentage of all SES students who entered the program in 2001 who had graduated by 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
POLITICS
Source: Statistics provided by Gretchen Heasty, SES program coordinator
ObamaspokehoursbeforeAlaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, was scheduled to address the Republican National Convention. Both parties are competing fiercely for the votes of women, especially those disappointed by Hillary Rodham Clinton's failure to win the Democratic nomination.
Republicans "just don't get" the hardships many Ohioans are facing because of the long-running loss of manufacturing jobs.
The McCain campaign said in a statement, "Our campaign has been consistent and clear: This election is about whose judgment you can trust to move America forward," and it argued Obama doesn't have that judgment.
Obama and McCain are running about even in Ohio, with Obama getting 47 percent and McCain 45 percent among registered voters, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted Aug.31.Sept.2.
"I disagree with John McCain on this, and I disagree with Gov. Palin on this," he said. "They think that the reason women aren't getting paid the same is because of different education" achievements.
Obama is concentrating this week on Ohio. Bush narrowly carried the state in 2004 and it could prove pivotal again this year. He said McCain, Bush and other
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-III.) is introduced by Gabrielle Mearin, a single mother, at a campaign event in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Wednesday.
In Ohio, Obama says Republicans'don't get it'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"If you've got George Bush's track record, and John McCain voting 90 percent of the time in agreement with George Bush, then you probably don't want to talk about issues either," Obama said. "If you don't have any issues to run on, I guess you want it to be about personalities."
McCain and Palin say they believe in equal pay for equal work. But they oppose Obama's efforts to overturn court rulings that allow workers no more than 180 days to file complaints alleging discriminatory pay.
NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio
Obama mentioned Davis' comment three times during a one-hour appearance at an outdoor forum on economic issues facing women. He used it to accuse speakers at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., of avoiding talk about job losses, home foreclosures and other issues.
— Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, pouncing on a top Republican aide's claim that the campaign is not about issues, said Wednesday that John McCain is trying to run away from his party's bad economic record.
Obama also issued a statement expressing sympathy for Hurricane Gustav's victims in Cuba. He asked Bush "to immediately suspend restrictions on family remittances, visits and humanitarian care packages from Cuban Americans for a minimum of 90 days."
Gabrielle Neavin, 24, a single mother working for minimum wage, introduced Obama in a college courtyard. Obama later said of McCain and his backers: "I don't think they are connecting with what ordinary folks, like Gabrielle, are going through every day."
Obama made a rare direct reference to Palin while discussing women's efforts to be paid the same as men in similar jobs. If elected, he said, "we are going to pass equal pay for equal work."
Campaigning in eastern Ohio, Obama noted that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said the election would be decided largely on voters' perceptions of the candidates' personalities.
"This election is not about issues," Davis told The Washington Post this week. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
Obama cited his proposals to increase the minimum wage and the earned income tax credit; to pump money into wind and solar power, clean-coal technology and biodiesel fuels; and to help subsidize health and tuition costs for many families.
"It wasn't hard for me to connect" with Neavin, he said, because "I was raised by a mom in similar circumstances." Obama's mother was 18 when he was born, and she briefly relied on food stamps to support her family.
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