Free On-campus Tutoring Available
by Evan Nikas
Help will always be given at Cape Cod Community College (4Cs) to those who ask for it.
Located within the Maureen M. Wilkens Hall (at the junction of the North Hall connector), students can find the Tutoring Center, a place where students can go to get some extra assistance they might need to be successful in their courses.
“The purpose here is to help students and allow them to stay on top of their courses,” said Lisa O’Halloran, Academic Coordinator for the Tutoring Center. “We want students to get help before they need it.”
The Tutoring Center is by appointment only. All students can schedule up to 55 minutes of tutoring per class, per week, but the Tutoring Center is not the only tutoring resource students can access on campus. 4Cs also offers three drop-in centers for students to find the help they need for success.
“There are four centers here on campus. The Tutoring Center can be found here in Wilkens Hall,” said O’Halloran. “The Reading and Writing Resource Center can also be found here in Wilkens Hall, and the Math Learning Center and the Science Lab (a.k.a the Bone Room) are located in the Science Building.”
The tutors 4Cs employs range from professional level tutors, to College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) certified and novice peer tutors. Beginning tutors are 4Cs students who qualify to tutor by being recommended by a professor, because they achieved a grade of B or higher in their course. The CRLA certification is earned during a student’s first semester by meeting the program’s requirements of completing a 7 ½ hour tutor training seminar, completing observation hours, and attending several 4Cs workshops related to their field of study. Each tutor has a list of classes and subjects they specialize in teaching. Chances are, someone in your courses may very well be a peer tutor. This allows students to receive tutoring by another student who understands the assignments and expectations of their course.
“[M]any of the peer tutors here within the center were students who came for tutoring help in the first place,” said O’Halloran.
All tutoring services offered to students are completely free. Whether a student is aiming for professional help, or to find a quiet place to compose an essay, everything is free of charge.
As well as offering face-to-face tutoring option for students, the college also offers an online option. 4Cs contracts with an online tutoring service called Brainfuse that can be accessed through Moodle. Brainfuse allows students to be tutored live online from anywhere, access to a writing lab, and a language lab similar to the popular Quizlet service.
From Brainfuse students can access SkillSurfer, a program that offers study tools for college placement standardized testing like the S.A.T., A.C.T., Accuplacer, and the nursing entrance exam T.E.A.S.
The tutoring services here at 4Cs can also branch away from pure academics. Tutors help students become better at managing deadlines and maintaining a daily planner to stay on top of their lives and studies.
The Tutoring Center gives students a place to be able to stay on top of things and be tutored by people they normally see on campus. It serves as a useful resource for those who would like to gain an upper hand in their courses.
“I’ve worked in other places that were noisy,” said Mari Bennet, a beginning tutor in Early Childhood Education. “Everything here has its place, it’s organized, everything is conducive to learning. Everyone is here to help.”
“The Tutoring Center definitely served as a useful tool for my classes,” said Chris Campbell, a second-year student here at 4Cs. “It definitely allowed me to be able to get the help I needed to be successful.”
No matter what a student needs, the Tutoring Center along with the other drop-in centers here on campus, the tools for success are there for the students. If you would like to schedule an appointment for a tutor, call 774.330.4352.
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