New Peer Tutors Hired to Meet Demand

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 21, 2009) - Midterms are coming up and the University of Kentucky's peer tutoring center, The Study, is more than ready. The office of Academic Enhancement has hired new tutors mid-semester to meet student demand.

Assistant director Jim Breslin said it is part of Academic Enhancement’s mission to be student responsive.

The new staff "is basically in response to student demand and its part of our mission," he said.

The peer tutoring program has already provided more than 3,800 tutoring sessions to students, and tutors have tutored more than 5,900 hours.  A student comes through the door for tutoring every 2.5 minutes.

Breslin said that he expects to provide more tutoring sessions than last year’s numbers which totaled more than14,000 sessions. New staff has been hired for math, physics, accounting, economics and organic chemistry courses. A schedule of when the subjects' tutoring is available can be found on the Web site.

Bridgette Kanz, a student program coordinator for Academic Enhancement, thinks this is the busiest semester she has seen yet.

"The word has really gotten out about our services and we're seeing students come back year after year for different subjects," Kanz said.

If students have not yet accessed The Study, it’s not too late, said Breslin.

"Even if you’re not in trouble in class, The Study is a good place to get work done and meet people, and if you run into a problem, there's someone there to help," Breslin said. "To someone who has never been to The Study,  I would say you’re really missing out on one of the best and cheapest resources on campus."

Academic Enhancement is UK's central academic resource for all students. They provide a free peer tutoring program as well as individual academic consultations. The Study is located on the third floor of the Complex Commons on UK's south campus. Peer tutoring is available on a drop-in basis Monday through Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. No appointment necessary.  

For more information visit the Web site at www.uky.edu/UGS/study or call at (859) 257-1356.