Small budget for Tutoring?
No problem: How to dramatically
grow and enhance your program
without increasing your budget
Eric Dunker
Derrick Haynes
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Introduction
• Metro State College of Denver Tutoring Program
growth and success in past 2 years
• Opportunities and Challenges
• Strategies to grow without any increase in
budget
• Strategies to sustain and improve service
• FIRMM
• Group activity: Assessment of academic support
on your campus, how can you improve and grow
using some strategies we talk about!
Operating Budget of Metro State Tutoring Center since 2004
Operating Budget
$100,000
$90,000
$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
$50,000
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$0
Operating $
Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring
2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007
Individual students served
since 2004
Growth Trend of Individual Students Served at Metro State
Tutoring Center since Fall 2004
# students
800
Students served
700
687
733
600
500
459
400
360
300
200
100
144
166
179
0
Spring
2004
Fall 2004
Spring
2005
Fall 2005
Sem esters
Spring
2006
Fall 2006
Spring
2007
Tutoring Sessions with students since 2005
Sessions with students since Fall 2005, sessions not tracked
prior to Fall 2005 semester
Sessions with students
Sessions
N/R N/R
N/R
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
3649
3269
2352
1961
Fall 2005
Spring 2006
Fall 2006
Sem esters
Spring 2007
Number of tutors
employed since 2004
Number of Tutors
60
55
50
42
40
30
20
10
Tutors
28
16
10
12
12
0
Spring
2004
Fall
2004
Spring
2005
Fall
2005
Spring
2005
Fall
2006
Spring
2007
Retention Statistics
General Student Population
39%
Retention Fall 05-Fall06
61%
Students not returning
Students who used Tutoring Center
24%
Retention Fall 05-Fall06
Students not returning
76%
Evaluations
7 point Likert Scale
•
•
Overall, how satisfied were you with the entire
tutorial experience? Any improvements you
would like us to make? 6.63
How much of a positive impact did the tutorial
session have on your understanding of the
course material? 6.53
If you need tutoring help in the future, how likely
are you to return to the Tutoring Center? 6.82
How likely would you be to recommend the
Tutoring Center to other people? 6.74
How knowledgeable was your tutor? 6.75
•
Were you satisfied with the facilities used for
•
•
•
Program Status in
September 2005
• Small space (700 square feet) with few
staff and maxed out budget
• The program needed to dramatically
change, and aligned with mission of Metro
State
• How can the Metro Tutoring Center
maximize it’s potential?
Economics 101
• 21,000 student population
• Modified open admissions, over 50% need
remedial classes at community college
• 62% Fall to Fall retention rate
• 17% graduation rate
• 12 tutors
• Problem!
– Supply vs. Demand?
• Is current demand based on requests received, or
is demand untapped?
• Based almost entirely on other programs, staff,
faculty and how they view the importance of your
program.
New Intended Program Outcomes
• Every student, faculty, and staff at Metro State will
have knowledge about the Tutoring opportunities
on campus by 2008.
• The Tutoring Center will have the most diversified
offering of classes and tutoring formats
• The Tutoring Center will have the most qualified,
highly trained, customer service oriented staff in
student services.
• The Tutoring Center will substantially contribute to
the overall retention goals of the college.
– Tracking, assessment
New Intended Learning Outcomes:
• Learn how to become effective independent learners
through strategies employed by tutors.
• Learn effective study skills and organization habits that will
contribute to the students’ success in academics.
• Learn the importance of persistence and goal setting as it
relates to academic success.
• Students will become more self-aware in relation to their
learning styles, personal study habits, and academic
strengths and challenges.
• Gain confidence and insight through positive feedback and
attention from tutors.
• Will be knowledgeable about programs and other services
that can assist with academic success offered on campus
through contact with the Tutoring Center.
Challenges
• Tutoring not integrated on campus, very
few departments know it exists
• Culture of apathy and discontent
• Small budget: The Tutoring Center is the
only general student population learning
assistance program on campus
• No previous assessment
• No hard-drive or database
– Floppy disks
Challenges
• No tracking system, other than counting
request sheets
– Underutilized web-site
• 12 student tutors, no other professional
staff for population of 21,000 students
• No walk-in/group tutoring
– Set up like a small cohort tutoring system
• Almost starting from scratch!
Opportunities
• Growth, without compromising service or
management
• IT system/database, tracking
• Implement certified training program
• Marketing, integrate tutoring across
campus
• Supporting mission of Metro State by
affording more opportunities for academic
support for students
Opportunities
• Repair unhealthy or broken relationships
on campus
• Working with each academic department
to determine needs assessment
• Incorporate work-study and volunteer
employees as tutors
• Assessment, evaluations, statistics
• If nothing else, can’t go anywhere but up!
Plan
• Growth Strategies
• Sustainability
• Preparing current staff for successful
change and a new vision
Growth Strategies
• Exclusive 1 on 1 tutoring is unrealistic
expectation for population of 21,000
– Implement group tutoring, group workshops, test
reviews, study skills
• 12 tutors will not be able to serve population of
students who need tutoring
– Increase in staff starting immediately
– Work-study office. When are forms due? When does
money get kicked back from unearned money from
previous semesters? Is work-study maxed out? State,
Federal, No-need
• Sell concept of academic support across
campus
– Funding in future.
– Career Services example
Sustainability and Improvement
• Training, certify through CRLA
– Obtained 3 year certification
• Build comprehensive web-site
– Hire IT student, focused help from IT department
• Comprehensive assessment system
– Tutees
– Tutors
• Obtain buy in from Academic Affairs
– Form advisory council with Dean’s office representation
– Web-site and information in professor syllabi by Spring 2006
– Integrate Academic Support across campus
• Including other student services departments
Utilizing current staff,
planning for success
• Give all existing staff responsibilities in addition
to tutoring, collaboration with other departments
– exp) 10 hours of work per week = 8 tutoring, 2 hours
supporting office needs
– Marketing, budget, IT, liaison to student organizations,
liaison to different academic departments, ect.
– Support balance and wellness of staff
• Fiscal Accountability
– No more hourly tutors for non-high demand subjects.
Must obtain work-study, volunteer, or reduce hours
Assessing your Program
and Planning for Change
FIRMM
• Assessment
• Focus Points
– Finance
– Information Technology
– Recruitment
– Marketing
– Management
FIRMM Assessment
• Assess the institution to develop a plan for
success
• Examine the following:
– External Factors
– Strategic Plans (vision, mission, objectives)
– Gaps that exist
FIRMM:
Finance
• Utilizing student staff to compensate for lack of
fulltime staff.
• Only spend money on high demand subjects
where work-study or volunteer undergraduates
are hard to find
• Continue lobbying the school for financing in
order to take the next steps with the program.
– Diversified sources
• Volunteers!
– Most student organizations require community service
FIRMM:
Information Technology
• Tracking database through Access
– Ad-Hoc Access to Banner or student database
– Success rates of students we are serving
– Are we serving a representative population compared
to campus demographics
• Comprehensive web-site, user-friendly
– All forms on-line
• Electronic Schedule, seamless set-up process
• Query high failure rate courses, contact
professors to increase our exposure
FIRMM:
Tutor Recruitment
• Targeted e-mail to students who are above 30 credits,
but below 91, A’s in courses, above 3.0
– Over 2000 e-mails sent out with link to application stating they
are pre-qualified to become tutors
– Highlighted benefits of the experience, pay rate, and emphasize
work-study.
• Obtained over 220 applications in a year and a half!
– Work-study, volunteer, reduced hours for high demand subjects if
hourly. Most qualify for work-study in some way
– Interviewed interested candidates, signed intent to hire forms for
work-study office
• Diversity in staff. Grow with a plan. What does my staff
look like (compared demographics to the population we
serve)?
FIRMM:
Marketing
• Each tutor must make 3 professor visits per
semester
• Liaison positions
– Exp) Top physics tutor is your new liaison to the
Physics dept.
• Needs assessment from academic departments,
athletics, other departments through liaisons
• Branding
• On evaluation, ask how students found out
about the Tutoring Program
– 75% through professors
FIRMM:
Program Management
• Autonomous employees and system
– Fluid operation
– Strong communication
• Accountability/Performance Standards
• Diversity in staff and stakeholders
• Sound Training
– Professional development
FIRMM:
Management (cont.)
• Visioning for future
• Wellness and balance
• Building solid relationships
– Trust, openness
– Collaborations
Take the FIRMM challenge
Questions to Consider
• How does my institution view the
academic support programs?
– Are your academic support programs properly
equipped to serve the general population?
– What has your Director done to help improve
the institution's outlook on the program?
• Current funding sources? Am I diversified?
• Is academic support integrated across
campus?
Questions to Consider
• Are we utilizing the volunteer
commitments of student organizations?
• Do we utilize our student staff to not only
tutor, but to help support the overall
operations of the office?
• Do you have positive relationships with all
pertinent stakeholders?
• Do we have data to support our progress?
Current Projects
• Projected staff of 65 in Fall 2007
• Created and manage SI program for
Reece Learning Communities
• Funding for Program Assistant
– Tiered structure, lead tutors, ect.
• Awarded 2 new spaces, increased square
footage by 300%
• Increased collaboration with other
departments
Current Projects
• Subject Specialists funded by Academic
Affairs
• Conversation hours for foreign language
and ESL
• Currently offer tutoring for all 1000/2000
level classes and most upper level classes
Questions?