GSW Tutoring Center holds spring semester book drive

By Talik Hill, Staff Writer

Brittany McKenzie is the Academic Resource Coordinator at Georgia Southwestern. In this Interview, McKenzie discusses her involvement with the Tutoring Center and what all it has to offer for students. The Tutoring Center is also conducting a book drive all semester long, and McKenzie discusses some of the details surrounding it.

Why should students visit the Tutoring Center?

“Tutoring is a free service where current students who have already taken these classes serve as tutors. So, you’ll have someone who you’ve probably had classes with, who you can relate to, who’s teaching you this information that you may not understand. Sometimes, students learn better from other students, so you can be more comfortable with a peer-to-peer dynamic at the Tutoring Center. Tutoring is also preventive. It’s not [only] meant to be something that you use after failing a test. It’s better to get those resources and make yourself feel confident in the information, and then later, if you’ve decided that you don’t need it anymore, you don’t have to come back. We try to have the core classes, as many as we can have available for tutoring sessions. The Writing Center takes care of the English courses, and the Tutoring Center takes care of all the other basic core classes on campus.”

How are tutors trained, and are they trained to address student learning disabilities?

“We do have the Office of Accommodations and Access on campus who let us know if we have any student that has a learning disability and what accommodations they may need. Our tutors go through training at the beginning of each semester. Whether they’ve tutored previously or not, they must complete the training [every time]. The training consists of all the background stuff that they would have to do as a tutor as far as submitting time and helping people sign in and sign out and things like that. I also show them how to complete a virtual session if they need to, and I also show them all of the resources that they have on GeorgiaView so they know how to help a student. They’re trained to help students through guidance and not simply give them the answers. All tutors must sign a confidentiality statement so that any information disclosed in a tutoring session doesn’t go anywhere else. The tutors are not allowed to tell students about the details of other tutoring sessions, so it’s a safe place for anyone.”

What sparked the idea of the book drive initiative?

“That actually came from one of our student tutors, Isabel Alcantar. She asked if we could use the Tutoring Center as a location to collect books from people that didn’t need them anymore so they could be given away to those that did. Students can take a book home with them, and when they’re done, they can bring it back to help other students find the book they’re looking for. The books also don’t have to be for a required course, but they could just have any useful information needed. Isabel has a signup sheet in Tutoring Room 113 in Canes Central, where the book drive is. In the back of the room, there are two bottom shelves that say ‘Book Drive,’ and beside the bookshelf, she has a signup sheet where you can check-out and check-in.”

What’s the process of donating and receiving books?

“If anyone has a book that they want to donate, there’s no process on how to check-in books if you’re donating them. All you would do is bring them in, put them on the shelf labeled ‘Book Drive’, and then leave it there. Anyone can donate.”

Interview with Brittany McKenzie.

Video by Talik Hill.

The Tutoring Center is collecting books in Canes Central Room 113 all semester long for their book drive.

Photo by Talik Hill.