students have available to them a plethora of tutors, testing areas, and even job opportunities in the Learning Center.
Located in 156 Seton Center, the Learning Center at Mount St. Joseph University offers a variety of services—all of which are free to students, with the exception of CLEP tests. But students have available to them a plethora of tutors, testing areas, and even job opportunities in the Learning Center.
The Math & Science Center, for instance, a component of the Learning Center, offers tutoring for students seeking help for any sort of mathematics, ranging anywhere from introductory math to calculus. This section also provides study assistance for 100-level science courses. Students can request one-on-one individual help or even more extensive help in study groups if they wished. Brice McGee, a tutor in the Math & Science Center, has noted some particular success, and that he has “had people come back. Whenever they have certain homework assignments or a big test coming then they’ll feel like they really need it.”
The Writing Center provides assistance for writing. Given that writing as an art form or even as technical reports or scientific articles always has room to improve, nearly everyone could benefit from attending the Writing Center. While work isn’t directly edited by the staff or tutors of the Writing Center, it is an opportunity to find how and where one’s writing can be enriched and developed into even greater coherence and clarity
Writing tutor Grace Ertel says, “People pass by (the Learning Center) every day but until I became a tutor I didn’t know of it. I think if it were publicized more to people, then they would know it was here. Now I tell people ‘Hey if you need help, come to the Learning Center, there are tutors in there for a reason.’”
The Learning Center is also a recognized testing location, so placement exams and computer-based tests can be scheduled and taken there. In order to do this, however, students must set up an appointment. For a CLEP test, in particular, scheduling can be done over the phone at 513-244-4888.
For students struggling with studying in general, the Learning Center can be of help. Resources such as individualized study skills assistance are offered, which can aid in identifying and solving that which prevents or hinders a student’s ability to study. Strategies like time management, goal-setting, and more effective studying habits can be taught and cultivated to conform to each student’s own abilities and desires to advance as a student.
Raelynn Cornwall, for instance, a student who utilizes tutoring services in the Learning Center, noted that her tutor “makes things understandable and if I’m not getting it, he’ll describe it in different ways to where I can get it and he really just adapts to my needs to make sure I can learn what I need to be learning.”
While some students still have difficulty getting past the threshold that is the recognition they need help academically, or over the misapprehension that tutoring is somehow a punishment, many have found dramatic grade improvements after visiting the Learning Center, including Cornwall. Others are concerned that if a professor couldn’t help them understand a subject, how would an individual their own age do any better?
“Most people don’t really realize,” Cornwall says, “is that everybody in here has been recommended by a teacher most likely because they excelled in that course. And so they are able to help you because they can probably show you a different aspect than what your teacher is probably showing you.”
The Learning Center can even offer employment to those students who do excel in certain subjects and have a strong understanding of the course work and subject matter. Individuals interested in this line of work can serve as tutors or consultants for the Writing or Math & Science Centers. “Tutoring,” as associate director Mary Brigham describes it, “means something different in college.”
Tutoring is not so much help as much as it is enhancement. The Learning Center even provides assistance to graduate students studying in physical therapy or physician assistant programs, most notably with anatomy courses, which tend to be some of the most complex and strenuous courses.
“Peer tutors help grad students approach a higher level of learning,” Brigham explains. “It’s not just memorize and done.”
To get in touch with the Learning Center, students can email learning.center@msj.edu or visit during office hours to set up an appointment. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. until evenings on Mondays through Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Tutoring appointments can be requested via a form on MyMount. Simply search “peer tutoring” and click the first link in the search results. Then click the link that reads “Form to Request a Peer Tutor.” Simply fill out and submit this form to set up an appointment. Similarly, for the Writing Center, search “Writing Center” in MyMount, click the first link, then click the link that reads “Request Writing Center Assistance.” You can even attach your assignment and first draft for review. Submit this form as well to receive tutoring for writing.
Mary Brigham, the associate director of the Learning Center, can be reached at mary.brigham@msj.edu or 513-244-4277.