UW-River Falls offers new tutoring assistance opportunity

The UW-River Falls Academic Success Center began a new program, the Falcon Study Extravaganza, this semester where students can get tutoring assistance for any subject.

The Falcon Study Extravaganza is held every week on Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the basement of the Davee Library.

“It’s an open study room, so anybody who needs help in any subject can come,” Brittany Busby, pre-major advisor and tutoring coordinator, said. “It began when a [UWRF] basketball coach requested it.” 

The Falcon Study Extravaganza is a less formal tutoring option for students who need help-some students may just want a place to do their homework or just have one question.

Busby said students can stay for the entire time or they can leave whenever they want.

“The tutors can help with any subject and if there is not a tutor for the subject we will recruit someone,” Busby said.

In addition to the Falcon Study Extravaganza, the Academic Success Center also offers study groups that students can sign up for, or they can request an individual session. Campus tutoring using study groups offers help for most classes such as math, chemistry, physics, writing and students who speak English as a second language. 

When a student signs up for a study group, the Academic Success Center will try to place them with people in the same class that they are requesting help in, Ricki Starck, student group and Falcon Study Extravaganza tutor, said.

UWRF students can also receive tutoring assistance at the Writing Center and the Math Center.

The Writing Center is located in 209 Kleinpell Fine Arts and offers students free writing assistance from trained tutors. It is accessible Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Students do not need an appointment, they can just walk in, but we encourage them to call first,” professor and Writing Center Director David Furniss said.

The tutors in the Writing Center are trained in a required three credit practicum class. To be able to take the practicum, they have to have taken English 100 and 200 and be recommended by a professor in the English department.

“[The Writing Center] is not a proofreading service, but can help with other things such as grammar, using sources and finding a good focus,” Furniss said. “It’s not just an English department service, it’s a University service.”

The Math Center is located in 145 North Hall. It is open Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The center is an informal study room setup on a walk-in basis where students are provided with help from upper level students who can help with studying mathematics. The tutors typically help with lower level math courses, but can assist with higher level courses as well, Joyce Kapszukiewicz, director of the Math Center, said.

The tutors are recommended by the department and have completed Calculus II (MATH 167).

The Math Center is equipped with six computers, learning manuals, helpful handouts and graphing calculators that are available for students to check out.

“A friend and I did not understand a math concept, so we went to the Math Center for help,” student Katie Delk said. “It was very helpful [and] definitely worth my time.”

The Math and Writing Centers are their own separate entities, but the tutoring programs offered by the Academic Success Center can help with those subjects as well.