Students can find help for courses at Center for Academic Achievement
One-on-one tutoring by a student who has succeeded in your course is one form of assistance available at ETSU's Center for Academic Achievement.
The semester’s just begun, but you can already tell you’re going to struggle in organic chemistry. Maybe you feel you’re no good at math and have no idea how you’ll pass prob and stats. Or perhaps you have a research paper due next month, and you just can’t get all the pieces to fit in a sequence that flows and makes sense.
You’re not alone. Plenty of college students all around the world experience the same thing each semester.
And East Tennessee State University provides a variety of ways to help. In addition to help from your professor through a phone call, an email or a visit during office hours, those ways include the tutoring, Supplemental Instruction and academic coaching available through ETSU’s Center for Academic Achievement (CFAA).
This assistance comes from fellow students who have taken the same courses that now challenge you, and they’ve passed and excelled.
With a few clicks on your Navigate app, you can make an appointment for an in-person or virtual session with a tutor for one-on-one help in math, science, writing and most general education courses.
Supplemental Instruction (SI) provides help in a group setting for students taking historically difficult courses. Weekly study group sessions reinforce and clarify the course material, often helping students who regularly attend earn a final grade that is a full letter grade higher than those earned by students who do not attend.
What if you need help with other aspects of college life besides your classes? Become a Very Important Buc (VIB) and get assigned to an academic coach – a student who can help you navigate the transition to college, develop good study habits, connect with student organizations, discover your strengths and more. Whether you’re a first-time, first-generation, transfer, continuing, out-of-state, veteran/military-affiliated, graduate or Access ETSU student, you can find individualized assistance through academic coaching.
“Students who engage in our services gain deeper insight into course content, increase their academic skills and abilities and are more likely to progress through their major promptly through graduation,” said CFAA Director Jake Alspaugh. “On average, they have a significantly increased GPA and especially a higher grade in the specific course for which they seek support.
“Perhaps most importantly to their own growth, they earn confidence by seeking out beneficial resources, take command of their academic experience and commit themselves to a lifetime of learning.”
Students seeking assistance at the CFAA can be assured that their fellow students serving as tutors, SI leaders and academic coaches are not only good at their chosen subjects, but have also undergone significant training.
The CFAA’s tutor training program now holds three levels of certification from the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).
Alspaugh pointed out that the CFAA’s new Level 3 certification is the highest awarded by the CRLA and means that the CFAA is among a select group of academic support programs that have demonstrated an advanced training and evaluation program.
“Workers must exhibit their ability to provide academic support at an internationally recognized standard of excellence, while I and my assistant director provide a rigorous curriculum and expected training topics and learning outcomes,” Alspaugh said.
To learn more about receiving tutoring, SI or academic coaching, visit the Center for Academic Achievement in person on the first floor of the Sherrod Library (room 144) or online at etsu.edu/students/learning/.
Students interested in becoming tutors, SI leaders or academic coaches may click here to learn more. Positions are still available for the fall 2024 semester.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
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