UMSL Alumni MSS Tutors Program


UMSL's Office of Multicultural Student Services creates a strong inclusive community amongst students, faculty, and staff that personifies respect, accountability and acceptance, while supporting and empowering students to achieve degree completion. MSS provides comprehensive support services to meet the unique needs of a diverse student population that will:

  • foster a sense of belonging and academic achievement
  • promote student accountability, self-development and goal setting
  • provide networking opportunities with the internal and external campus community
  • facilitate cultural awareness/diversity activities for the campus community.


The goals of the Multicultural Student Services include:

  • impacting student learning and development
  • promoting student engagement
  • facilitating persistence
  • cultivating student success
  • creating cultural awareness and acceptance


The MSS Tutoring Program
Multicultural Student Services offers a wide array of services to students - one component is the tutoring program. The department provides individual and group tutoring to enrolled UMSL students to promote persistence that will lead to degree attainment. The purpose of the tutoring program is to support students who seek additional support to successfully complete course assignments and/or exams proficiently. In addition, comprehensive academic coaching is available to provide additional support. Overall, the goal of the tutoring program is to assist students with successfully completing a course as well as obtaining higher scores in specific subject matters.
Tutors are needed from a wide array of academic disciplines representing 13 different majors on campus:

  • Accounting
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Criminology
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Foreign Languages
  • Mathematics
  • Nursing
  • Psychology
  • Social Work
The Multicultural Student Services tutoring component provides free tutoring services to all students who express interest in receiving comprehensive academic support services. Each student is provided up to five hours of tutoring a week for each course requested.

 Tutor Training

At the beginning of each semester, all tutors undergo a comprehensive tutor training session highlighting various study skills techniques (time-management, memory skills, note-taking skills) as well as learning  personality style assessments which focus on developing strategies to be utilized during conducted tutoring sessions.

Critical Need for Tutors

Due to the increasing demand for tutoring services through Multicultural Student Services, one of the biggest challenges faced by the department is inconsistency to retain student tutors due to graduation or internships. This impacts the amount of student tutors who have taken upper level courses for which tutoring has been requested. This often times results in delayed placement for the subsequent semester. For the Spring 2014 semester, a total of 21 tutoring requests were not met because qualified tutors were not available.

Spring 2015 Tutor Requests

Introduction to Arts of Africa
Microbiology
Quantitative Analysis
Organic Chemistry I
CCJ Research Methods
CCJ Stats
Alcohol, Drugs, and Society
Object Oriented Programming
Advanced French Readings
Nutrition and Health
Information Systems Concepts and Application
Business Statistics
Introduction to Operations Management
Basic Marketing
Contemporary Math
Applied Statistics
Elementary Linear Algebra
Anatomy & Physiology II
Critical Thinking
Business Ethics
Bioethics
Physics I    
Physics/Mechanics and Heat
Electric, Magnetics, and Optics
Statistics
Introduction to American Politics
Gender, Crime, and Society
Readings in Spanish
Alcohol, Drugs, and Society
Social Statistics


Tutoring Makes A Difference

 Anticipated outcomes of students utilizing tutoring services include:
  • noticeable difference in attitude toward academics
  • increased time-management skills
  • higher grades in classes in which tutoring was requested
  • passing grades in classes in which tutoring was provided
  • increased retention rates as a result of receiving academic assistance.


To apply for the volunteer UMSL Alumni Tutors program, please complete the on-line application.