Online tutoring available for a year to WSU distance degree students is now offered to students on all WSU campuses too.
Janet Kendall, director of distance degree programs (DDP), was instrumental in organizing WSU’s participation in the program. She learned about a distance-learning consortium, ONLINE @ www.etutoring.org, and sought to add a Northwest regional group to it.
By accessing the site, students can get help with writing, accounting, statistics and math 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Writing aid comes within 24 hours, while tutors in the other subjects interact in real time with students via computer video and/or voice.
WSU expects to save thousands of dollars compared with previous contracts with outside tutoring providers.
“The new service, hosted on Connecticut distance learning consortium computers, will cost just a few thousand dollars a year, plus the cost of tutoring staff,” Kendall said. “We believe the services will be better and the cost savings significant.”
Katherine Lovrich, student advising and learning center, helped engage tutors for the consortium. Tutors participate from several colleges in the Northwest and all WSU campuses, and Kendall expects more will join.
DDP’s Andrea Kerr is coordinating operations.
ETutoring will replace the online writing lab previously used by the WSU Writing Program, said Patrick Johnson, WSU’s eTutoring writing director. WSU Vancouver math instructor Joe Randal is leading plans for math tutoring.
