Tutors Aid UBC Students

"Is this where | register for the Tutorial Centre?”

“Yes.”

“lI know there’s a registration fee of a dollar, but
that’s al! I've got and I need to buy lunch.”

“O.K., pay us later,” says Gary Forsgren, UBC
Tutorial Centre co-ordinator, as he signs up another
tutor for his pool of academic talent.

The Tutorial Centre idea grew out of a student
tutorial program begun in campus residences several
years ago. The program expanded to a campus-wide
basis four years ayo when the Centre moved to the
Student Union Building under the sponsorship of the
UBC Alumni Association, which supplied a grant fora
co-ordinator's salary and administrative and publicity
assistance, This is the third year that the Centre has
worked in co-operation with Speakeasy, the student-
run information and ussistance group.

Initially, many students seek help from. their
professors when they get behind in a course. But
sometimes the problem can’t be handled in a simple
office visit. That’s where the Tutorial Centre comes in.
It acts as a clearing house, matching up tutors with
knowledge-hungry students.

“This year,”’ says Mr. Forsqren, who is a fourth-year
Physical Education student, ‘we have had over 200
prospective tutors and students wanting help sign up
with the Centre. We try to get help for everyone who
asks, and so far we've been fairly successful.”

Students and tutors come from virtually every area
of the University and both are charged a $1 registration
fee, refundable if the Centre fails to find a student for
the tutor or a tutor for the student.

All other financial arrangements are between the
student and tutor, whose fee depends on the expertise
and the level of teaching required.

The tutors are usually senior or graduate students,
who are contacted at the beginning of the year by
letter. In cases where a tutor in aspecific subject isnot
available, notes posted on Faculty bulletin boards
usually get quick results.

Students often come looking for help because they
Jack, for a variety of reasons, background in certain
subjects. Many requests come from mathematics and
science students, but not all. There’s even been a
request for Sanskrit instruction. (Yes, there's a tutor
available.)

This year, more and more Vancouver schools and
colleges are using the resources of the Tutorial Centre
by referring their students for assistance. But there are
some areas that the Centre is not set up to help, such as
the student who wanted lessons in conversational
Dutch. "We're not the place for that,'’ says Mr.
Forsgren, “but | do have a catalogue of local ethnic
groups, so | could tell her who to contact.”

There's help available too for UBC students whose
finances are a bit too thin to afford a tutor, but who

12/UBC Reports/Oct. 30, 1974

really need help. Mr. Forsgren says he has had
professors and graduate students volunteer to tutor
without fee.

At the moment the Tutorial Centre seems to have
lots of satisfied customers and would be happy to have
more. As Mr. Forsgren puts it, “I'm just waiting for the
deluge before Christmas exams.”

Students and tutors who want to get in before the
rush can register from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. weekdays at
the Tutorial Centre in the main concourse in SUB.
Information on the Centre can be had anytime from
Speakeasy, 228.3777 or 228-4567.

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