May 2023

The school year is winding down—and with final assignments and exams on the horizon (as well as summer jobs and academic opportunities), we are here to support all the students in your learning community!

We hope you’ll remind students that they have access to on-demand, 1-to-1 expert tutoring that fits into their busy schedules. They can also take practice quizzes and review their answers with an expert. And they can get feedback on their reports and essays. The learning opportunities are numerous with your Tutor.com program!

Also, check out this month's New Partner Spotlight with Columbia College for advice on using Tutor.com data to inform on-campus services and promote engagement.

We're here to help students finish the school year strong and prepare for the next phase of their educational journey. Thank you for your continued partnership in giving learners the resources they need to succeed.

All the best,
Your Tutor.com Higher Education Customer Success Team

 

Featured Graphics

We hope you'll take a moment to remind students that Tutor.com experts are standing by 24/7 to help them prepare for final essays, assignments, and exams. One great way to spread the word is by posting these graphics on social media. 👍  

TIP: Include your Tutor.com
access instructions when you post these graphics!

Click to download each image.

 

 

Columbia College (Columbia, South Carolina)

Our team is delighted to feature Columbia College Dean of Online Education Dr. Jeffrey Bowe in this month's New Partner Spotlight interview.

The following responses were provided by Dr. Bowe and speak to the College's proactive use of real-time Tutor.com data since the program launch in January 2023.

From surprising revelations informing on-campus services to advice for promoting engagement across student populations, Dr. Bowe shares insights that can be applied to programs at any phase—whether at launch or years into a strong partnership.

Why did your institution choose to partner with Tutor.com?

We were looking for ways to enhance the availability of tutoring to our students. Initially, we were looking for a solution only for our online students to replace a different provider; however, we decided to open up Tutor.com to our on-campus day students as well to better understand the unmet needs of that group.

Like most schools, we don't have the funding or staff to equip a 24/7 tutoring center in any topic area, let alone over 200 areas. We decided to pilot full-campus access for a semester to collect data.

What needs are met by providing Tutor.com to your students?

We are now able to provide all students tutoring when they want it.

Almost 23 percent of students access tutoring from 9:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M. when we have no on-campus tutoring available.

Almost 30 percent access on the weekend when tutoring hours are greatly reduced.

Friday is the most common day, another 30 percent, again a surprise because on-campus tutoring has shorter hours due to a perception that there is less demand on Fridays. The data on hours of access has been eye-opening, and we will use it to revamp our on-campus services.

We also have students using the free services to prepare for standardized tests, which is a nice added benefit. 

Please describe a unique or interesting outreach feature or initiative of your institution’s Tutor.com program.

While not necessarily unique, we send out reminders about tutoring to faculty, students, and advisors in the third week of seven-week online courses. Because Tutor.com is still new, we know it is not top of mind, and we find that faculty use the reminders to suggest to students that they access the service.  

Is there any advice or best practices you would like to share with other Tutor.com program managers?

I would watch the data by month for the first several months to see if all student populations are engaging equally, which was not the case for us.

Look at the details, including by course, not just the overall usage. We were able to do targeted communication to those populations that showed less activity, and as the semester progressed, we saw more balanced usage across populations.

Even with on-campus tutoring services for day students, we had more usage from day students than from fully online students, so disaggregating the data is critical to understanding who is using the program and when.

The wide range of topics is excellent, and about 40 percent of the sessions were in topics that we do not cover in on-campus tutoring.
 

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​​"[My tutor] was very patient and understanding which actually got me what I reached out for—understanding the requirements to get my assignment done correctly! Truly appreciate his expertise and assistance. Exemplifies true excellence and a resourceful professional."
Essay Writing Tutoring

"Perfect session! This helps regain lost knowledge and helps gain confidence back that was lost."
Business and Accounting Tutoring

"I have so much appreciation for all of these tutors and their help to me throughout my semester in algebra. There is no way I could have passed this semester without their help. I am forever grateful for all of their help and dedication they have for us students. Thank you so much!"
Algebra Tutoring

​​"She was amazing! Very nice and helped me out a ton! My essay looks much more promising now, and she was kind about everything as well!"
Education Tutoring

"This tutor was able to help a lot and very happy to have his assistance! Thanks a ton...and I know I will pass thanks to you!"
 Computer Information and Technology Tutoring

​​"My tutor was AWESOME! 10/10 highly recommend. He was thorough and really gave me some good constructive criticism that I can apply on my other English assignments in the future."
English Tutoring