Helping Western students succeed

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Week five can be a stressful time in a college student’s life. When midterm exams, essays and projects start to pile up, the Student Success and Advising Office can be an important resource to keep on track and receive academic help.

The Student Success and Advising Office aims to support students and provide them the tools they need to be successful in their academic and career goals. One of the major services provided by the department is free peer tutoring for Western students. Every student can take advantage of these tutoring services by simply clicking the “WCS” logo on Portal and making a tutoring appointment for a current class. Tutoring through the Student Success and Advising Office is available for most humanities, linguistics and social science classes.

Tutoring Coordinator and Student Success Specialist Carly DelaBarre emphasized that the peer tutors undergo extensive training in their position. This includes teaching to multiple learning styles, multiple intelligences, and general communication skills to effectively assist students in need.

Even if students don’t require tutoring for specific classes, DelaBarre encourages everyone to seek help at the Student Success and Advising Office, “I would really love students to know that they can come in and see us if they have a 4.0,” she explained. “I want to help you. I want to make sure that your time management is solid, study habits are solid, and your classes are going well. I genuinely care about every single student that comes in here … I have students from all different grade levels and all different backgrounds come in and see me regularly, and I wish more students did that.”

Student Success Specialists like DelaBarre can help with everything from test anxiety to studying for specific learning styles. When asked what advice she would give students during midterms week, DelaBarre replied, “It’s so crucially important to manage your time well … Take care of future you by planning now for the future.”

Visit the Student Success and Advising Office in its new location, the old Student Health and Counseling Center next to the WUC, starting on Feb. 12.

For more information on the resources that the center offers, visit wou.edu/advising.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis