Freshman Jessica Manthei meets all of the requirements of being a student academic services tutor. She has at least a 3.0 and knows her specific tutoring subjects.
The one thing that sets her aside from the other 17 tutors is that she is a freshman.
“I tend to hire sophomore, junior, seniors and occasionally a freshman. I did in fact, over the past two years, hire two freshmen. They are truly exceptional,” Sandy Davidson, Student Academic Services tutoring coordinator, said.
Manthei, a secondary education and English major, helps tutor in eight subject areas, including chemistry, French and writing. She works in the academic services center six hours a week.
“I really like helping students. I’m doing what I want to do for the rest of my life right now,” Manthei said. “I like how I get to help (students) when they are so stressed out.”
On average, Manthei sees about three students a week but she sees senior Greg Rogers, a visually impaired student, regularly to tutor him in college algebra.
“When I tutor him, I have to relearn algebra; I have to communicate it to him,” Manthei said. “I’m a visual learner, so it makes me broaden the way I think about tutoring.”
Although Manthei only sees a few students each week, Davidson believes the numbers will start to increase now that the semester is more than halfway over.
“A lot of LA 101 students (will come in) because they are getting ready to write their papers,” Davidson said. “And sometimes that process can be a little overwhelming. All of our tutors have been through LA 101 and 102.”
The 17 tutors in Student Academic Services, which is located on the bottom level of Collins Library, cover 25 different subject areas.
“We take a very ‘as needed’ client,” Davidson said. “Students can come in regularly. Other students will drop in when they have specific concerns or issues they are dealing with. The nice thing about this particular organization is that students don’t have to have disabilities to utilize the services. They don’t have to sign up at the beginning of the school year in order to utilize the services. We truly are available to any Baker student.”
In order for students to see a tutor, they need to come at a time a tutor in their specific area is available and in the library. A list of these times can be found on the tutoring center’s main check-in desk.
Davidson said it’s not uncommon for students who do well to regularly seek tutoring assistance, and she said no one needing help should be ashamed to ask for it.
“Many of the students who come to see tutors aren’t failing,” Davidson said. “They aren’t even making Ds. I have seen A students and B students getting help from tutors. I’ve seen tutors helping tutors. There is no stigma attached.”
