As the semester is in full flow and the workload is picking up, Binghamton University students have the option to apply for a free tutor at the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) in the College-in-the-Woods library.

Within 24 hours of applying, students will get matched up with a tutor. From that point, they can start their first lesson within three days, according to Hope Eaton, coordinator of tutoring services. Due to budget cuts, students can request help in a maximum of two classes for a total of two hours a week.

Right now there are about 1,000 students signed up for tutoring and 60 to 80 tutors, so some tutors may be responsible for as many 20 students.

Tutoring sessions can range from one-on-ones to groups of seven, but they should never get larger than that, Eaton said.

According to Eaton, tutors are advised to run group tutoring sessions in order to work with more students, who can then discuss ideas with one another.

Tutors Lizz Magowan, a sophomore double-majoring in biology and French, and Minji Kong, a sophomore majoring in chemistry, became friends after meeting each other in tutoring sessions.

‘In a class with hundreds of students, I probably wouldn’t have known her otherwise,’ Magowan said.

Magowan and Kong tutor on average about 10 hours per week and believe that all students should take advantage of the free service offered.

‘Oct. 29 is the last day to withdraw from the class,’ Eaton said. ‘In the beginning, we try to build relationships between our students and tutors, so we don’t want them to come in December, just to cram for an exam.’

In the event that students decide after that deadline that they need a tutor, certain classes such as physics, chemistry and writing, offer walk-in hours. According to Eaton, fliers are being put up in Hinman College, CIW and Mountainview College, where the walk-in sessions will be offered.

‘If we see higher requests for other classes, we can add more walk-in sessions,’ Eaton said.

Students interested in tutoring sessions can visit the CIW library and fill out a card with their contact information and classes they need help in.

‘I advise it to pretty much everyone, because everyone could use a little extra help now and then,’ Magowan said. ‘Tutors can be more approachable than a professor, and because we’re students, it’s a more relaxed environment.’

The CIW library also hosts the Discovery program, designed to help freshmen adjust to college, according to Discovery Adviser Ben Repak.

Repak said the job of a Discovery Adviser is to keep in touch with students throughout their college career and to help them with a variety of issues ranging from school to personal.

‘We go into Writing 111 and HDEV 105 classes and schedule appointments with the students,’ Repak said.

Repak, a senior majoring in management with concentrations in finance and leadership, said that advisers meet with freshmen in those courses twice, the first time to see how they are getting acclimated to college and the second before scheduling sessions to help them choose classes.

Students who are not in either of those courses can visit Discovery Advisers at their office in the CIW library from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday.

Students in the two courses took a survey at the end of the year and 97 percent said they would definitely recommend an appointment with a discovery advisor to their friends, Repak said.

‘The students don’t really know what the appointments are at first, but once they get them they come back for more,’ Repak said. ‘It’s great for them to make connections and have someone to talk to.’

More information on the Discovery program is available at discovery.binghamton.edu.