McGraw expands tutoring for reading period, finals

The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning will now offer Group Study Hall tutoring sessions during reading period and finals week, according to Geneva Stein GS ’14, assistant director of the McGraw Center.

The first tutoring session during reading period will be offered on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The sign-in for all study hall courses will be held in Frist 330, except sign-in for physics courses, which will be held in Jadwin Hall.

Stein noted that the center offered individual tutoring during reading period last spring out ofan interest in extending its tutoring schedule, and theslots filled up almost immediately.

Stein explained that this semester, the Center wanted to try offering group study halls instead sincethe switch from individual tutoring to group study halls was because group study halls are more efficient in reaching greater numbers of students.

Until last spring, McGraw study halls were closed during reading period and finals, and residential college tutors were not obligated to continue meeting with their students after the end of classes, according to Stein.

“Historically, the language around tutoring has stipulated that [tutoring] wouldn’t be available during reading period and finals, but that was really to protect the tutors,” Director of the McGraw Center LisaHerschbach added.

Stein said that McGraw course liaisons –tutors who interact with professors and preceptors to ensure consistency between course material and tutoring–suggestedthe idea of providing help through study halls during the reading period and finals to her.

Marisa Salazar ’17, a course liaison, said she asked Stein why there was a rule that tutors could not work after Dean’s Date. She said that Stein investigated the matter and found that if tutoring were on a volunteer rather than a shift basis, it could be allowed.

Herschbach said thatmany tutors were available and showed significant interest in offering support during reading period and finals.

Salazar explained that the new volunteer-based schedule gives tutors a lot more flexibility and the ability to offer meaningful assistance to students who want it. Tutors will still be paid for working during reading period, she added.

“For me, tutoring during Dean’s Date or finals is actually really rewarding because you’re helping people when they are most stressed,” Salazar said. “It’s really beneficial for the students because they get help closer to the time that they need it, and often when they are able to go.”

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Stein explained that she sent out a schedule for tutors to select shifts during reading and finals period, and that 45 of the 130 tutors had already signed up.

“[The system is] designed to fit everyone’s schedule, and it’s designed to be maximally helpful for people getting tutored, because it’s before their tests,” Sara Fridovich-Keil ’18, a McGraw tutor, said.

The McGraw Student Advisory Council also helped to organize the new expanded study hall schedule, according to Council member Patrick Flanigan ’18.

“Something that we’ve worked a lot for the Advisory Council is about scheduling tutoring for when it’s [the most impactful] and having more tutors when people tend to come more for studying and problem sets,” Flanigan noted.

Individual tutoring will not take place during reading and finals period, but will resume with the next semester, Flanigan said. Students who wish to have individual tutoring during reading period and finals should reach out to their Directors of Studies or Deans in their Residential Colleges.

Stein noted that there were challenges in matching the right time for students’ and tutors’ availability, but she was able to coordinate the timing of study halls with review sessions held by respective professors in order to maximize attendance.