Students take advantage of tutoring programs, earmark funds needed to keep services alive

By Anna Douglas

douglasa@mytjnow.com

Jim Clyburn, Democratic U.S. Representative, spoke to students last week concerning Winthrop’s academic success and answered student questions. Clyburn said officials need to be “more realistic” when measuring the success of state schools. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • vanostenbridgec@mytjnow.comA Winthrop freshman who failed his first college math test has aspirations to become a neuroscientist and try to find a cure for cancer. 

And, he says, the university’s Academic Success Center is going to help him realize that dream. 

Derion Reid found his way to a tutoring session housed in Dinkins—the former Winthrop student center—after meeting with a professor about his struggles in class. 

“People always say ‘don’t treat college like thirteenth grade,’” he said. “And I know that’s true now.” 

Coming from a high school academic environment, the McCormick, S.C. native said he had never had to study to make good grades before college.

It didn’t take long for the lack of studying to catch up with him, he said.

After attending weekly tutoring sessions in the fall at the Academic Success Center (ASC), Reid completed his first semester with a B-plus in the math class in which he initially bombed a test.

“(The center) helped me become an independent studier,” he said. “(My tutor) helped me along the way; she guided me.”  

ASC’s helping hand

 Reid found academic help early at Winthrop. 

Other students may visit the ASC after they’ve failed one or more classes.  

The center does contact all students who have a D or F in a class at midterm by e-mail to offer tutoring services.  University College dean Gloria Jones said that number was more than 800 students in the fall.

Professors report those statistics to the ASC, but no one at Winthrop will make any student attend tutoring in Dinkins, she said.

Last semester—the first operational semester of the ASC—more than 230 students made 1,024 appointments for academic tutoring.  

U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn visited the center last week and heard from students similar to Reid who have benefitted from the ASC’s services.  

A $350,000 federal grant supported by Clyburn was crucial to the ASC’s upstart and continuation.  

But the grant for Winthrop, similar to other federal dollars, could disappear as members of Congress continue to discuss budget cuts in Washington.  

Budget talks are especially of note in South Carolina, Clyburn said, where officials need to be “more realistic” about the way they measure the success of schools.

Filling the void

Clyburn said the ASC is just one example of why members of Congress desperately need to be able to help their communities with earmarked funds.

“Earmarks work on needs that may not be present anywhere else,” he said after his tour of the ASC. 

He said support services such as Winthrop’s ASC fill a void that might otherwise go unmet in light of dwindling state appropriations and higher education budget cuts; a void that could hold back students like Reid from their dreams.  

“Who knows what (Reid) can be,” Clyburn said.  “(The ASC) may have just put him on the road to a cancer cure.”  

No student left behind

During a presentation to students in Dina’s Place Theater, Clyburn offered his support for repealing the No Child Left Behind Act.

“The fact of the matter is every student in South Carolina takes the SAT, and so the scores are averaged out,” Clyburn said. “The schools were not pleased with the number.”

The congressman suggests coming up with a way to measure schools that is fair to all districts, especially those with low funding.

You are your experiences

Before initiating a student questioning session, Clyburn explained the importance of relationships with others. According to the congressman, our world views revolve around our experiences in life; different people have different experiences, thus changing their global views.

“You are no more or no less than what your experiences have made you,” Clyburn said. “No two people have the same experiences, and therefore no two people will see the world the same.”

“We have all been limited, and therefore none of us can see the world for what it is.”

Additional reporting by Claire Byun