It’s the moment of truth– final exam week.
You can see it in the packed tables in Fluor Study Hall, you can hear it in the tapping of fingers on laptop keyboards and you can smell it in late-night coffee refills.
But take a closer look, and you will see a cog in the academic machinery that has been turning all semester, helping students prepare for this make-or-break rite of passage.
Tutors.
They are the unsung heroes who help their fellow students make sense of formulas in calculus, equations in physics and other concepts that might otherwise seem beyond comprehension.
Students have attended tutoring sessions through Clemson University’s PEER & WISE program more than 1,550 times since May, most of them in the fall semester. The service is part of the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences and is open to all students across the University.
Levi Roach, the PEER & WISE outreach and tutoring coordinator, said the organization has seen a historic increase in tutoring requests in recent months.
CU Navigate has made the service more accessible for students, and PEER & WISE has created a “one-stop-shop” culture where they can find tutors and mentors in the same place, he said.
“I’m so proud of our tutors,” Roach said. “They have put their heart and soul into their work. It’s not just, ‘How can I help you in calculus?’ They want to know how students are really doing.”
Sixteen tutors have handled more than 1,290 appointments since May, sometimes meeting with multiple students at a time.
The tutors, who are students themselves, have performed well in the courses they tutor. In addition to class work concepts, they teach techniques that help students study and retain course information.
Tutors said they are uniquely positioned to help because students open up more easily to a peer than a professor and the stigma around seeking help has faded.
Among the tutoring cadre is Emma Alford, a junior in mechanical engineering who tutors several math, physics, thermal, and fluid classes.
As of the week before Thanksgiving, she had helped students in 86 appointments totaling 48 hours.
Is Alford a hero? She doesn’t think of herself as one.
“It’s our day to day,” Alford said. “You come in, you help, and you go home, just like any normal student would. It feels like a high honor to even be able to help the students.”
Students who need tutoring can make an appointment through CU Navigate and can stay for as little as a few minutes to get a quick question answered or hunker down for a few hours to work out the stickiest problems.
Tutors work in three- and four-hour shifts, meeting with students in Fluor Study Hall.
The first week of exams, which is about a month into the semester, is the busiest time for tutors. That is when many first- and second-year students realize the difficulty of some classes, especially calculus II and physics, tutors said.
Tutors have a policy of not helping with specific homework assignments. Rather, their role is to help students understand the concepts they are learning in class, said Justin Buturff, a senior in mechanical engineering who tutors some of the more advanced classes, including model and analysis of dynamic systems.
“If they are taking an exam, there isn’t going to be a tutor there with them,” he said. “Our goal is to help them be able to do it by themselves, and we’re just here as a supplement.”
Serita Acker, executive director of PEER & WISE, said a large part of the program’s mission is simple: give every student a place to find support, connection and the confidence to tackle tough courses.
Tutors, she said, are at the heart of that effort.
“PEER & WISE is here for every student who walks through our doors,” Acker said. “Our tutors create a space where anyone can ask questions, get clarity and feel supported. They understand what students are going through because they’ve been there themselves. I couldn’t be more proud of the work they do and the difference they make every single day.”
