Most people don’t realize how much tutoring benefits the students and instructors at Bakersfield College. Tutoring is a one-on-one connection and the environment is different from that of the classroom.
“It’s individuals working with other individuals,” said Hillary Neumeister, a professor who trains tutors.
The tutors are not teachers, but someone who can guide and help students who don’t have the study skills, according to Kristen Mayes, who has been tutoring for a year.
The tutoring is available to any student at BC, and is completely free. But not many people know this, she said.
In the fall, the center tutored 457 people, for a total of 3,200 hours of tutoring. On a given day this month, there were more than 60 appointments, but Midge Ladd, the tutor coordinator, said it was only the start of the semester. Even so, Ladd and others feel that many BC students are not aware of the program.
The advantage is obvious. A survey of tutees shows that 51 percent would have dropped their classes if it had not been for tutorial assistance, and 95 percent believed the tutorial system helped them raise their grades. Overall satisfaction was 99 percent. The only complaint was not being able to get more than the limit of one hour per subject per week.
“We can really see the ebb and flow of assignments on campus of when tests come back and people get results … suddenly, we have an influx of people from poly sci, history, chemistry,” said Neumeister.
Students can get tutoring in any subject.
“If we don’t have a tutor for a particular subject, we find one,” said Reggie Slaughter, a tutor.
Tutors get paid and receive credit for tutoring. To become a tutor, a student must be recommended by an instructor and have received an A or B in the class in which they tutor.
“The instructors give the tutoring center the names of students they know or feel have a good personality, and can work well with other people,” said Neumeister. “The instructors forward those names to us and we invite those students to join our tutoring program if it works into their schedule and if it’s something that they want to do.”
Since more students would drop their classes if it weren’t for tutoring, the tutors are actually helping the instructors, too. They are a pivotal point, kind of like a triangle, said Neumeister.
People who might be shy about asking a question in class can have a dialogue with a peer in tutoring.
Tutor Angela Hunt, who also receives tutoring in Spanish, said, “Every time you tutor someone, you learn something yourself.”
Barry Izumi, a student who has been tutored, said he wanted tutoring to make sure he got all the bases.
“It made a difference. I passed easily.”
The Tutoring Center is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, 8 to 11 a.m., and is located on the third floor of the Learning Center. Drop-in tutoring for English and math is also available. For more information, call 395-4430.