Academic Support Centers

Academic Support Centers at Saint Paul College exists to support student learning and academic success. We aim to facilitate inclusive learning experiences that allow students to strengthen their abilities in scientific and quantitative reasoning, reading, writing, and critical thinking, and to grow as lifelong, independent learners.

The department and our team

Academic Support Centers consists of the Tutoring Center and the Science Study Center. The Tutoring Center, located in Room 3125, supports students across many of the College’s academic programs. The Science Study Center, located in Room 3220, focuses on supporting students in biology, chemistry, and natural science courses.

Our multi-disciplinary team includes professional fellows and peer tutors. Fellows are staff with disciplinary and teaching expertise. Peer tutors are students who have been recommended for the position and receive ongoing education and mentorship to support their growth as tutors.

Tutoring and other services

Academic Support Centers offers several services, including individual tutoring with professional fellows and peer tutors—both in person and online. Tutoring is an educational and collaborative partnership. The goal of tutoring is to help students:

• Understand and practice course material
• Connect what they’re learning in classes to other areas of their life
• Work independently with more skill and confidence
• Reflect on how they learn
• Meet their academic goals.

Visit Meet with a Tutor for more details about working with a tutor in person and online. This page includes tutoring information for specific subjects.

Students are welcome to use the Tutoring Center and Science Study Center to study independently and with other students. The Science Study Center has models and microscopes for student use and space for lab work.

Academic Support Centers also offers several other services and programs, including workshops and course-embedded academic support; for more information, visit Faculty Resources.

How we work

In all of our services, we engage and support learners collaboratively to help them reach their individual goals. Our work is grounded in a strengths-based perspective: We acknowledge each student’s capacity to learn and help them build from their existing skills and experiences in both academic and non-academic contexts. While we support students’ work “in the moment” as they complete specific assignments and prepare for exams, we focus on facilitating opportunities for students to learn broader disciplinary concepts, develop metacognitive strategies, and connect their learning to new contexts throughout their academic and professional careers and their personal lives.