The COD Learning Commons says in its mission statement that its goal is to “continually expand and enhance the services provided in order to meet the needs of today’s students.” However, many students don’t take advantage of the helpful resource right in front of them. Students study alone or give up all together when struggling academically while tutors are waiting nearby. More students need to take advantage of the COD Learning Commons and help spread awareness of the resources available because they are beneficial no matter what a student’s schedule or learning ability is.

First, the tutors in the Learning Commons are qualified to work with any kind of student. Tutors are available for a multitude of subjects, including for unique courses in specific fields. Students can save money by attending free tutoring and workshops within the school. With this, there is no student who can say he or she cannot benefit from the help available.

Managing time is one of the biggest problems students face when balancing school and personal lives. Students have jobs, sport, and other responsibilities. While many might claim they don’t have time to get tutoring, the Learning Commons allows students to schedule their own appointments and allows walk-ins at any time during open hours.

Students also have the option of receiving tutoring online. After a tutoring session, students are not under any obligation to return or be placed with a certain tutor long term. Students are also not obligated to come at any specific time but can instead choose their own

time slot that fits within their personal schedule. The Learning Commons is open twelve hours a day, Monday to Thursday, and has limited hours Friday to Sunday. A student can’t say he or she is too busy to go to the Learning Commons.

It is possible students may not be comfortable going to the Learning Commons to ask for help from a stranger. However, they have the option of choosing who they work with. The tutors are trained to meet the specific needs of each individual student. For example, ELA and ESA, programs focused on helping students whose first language is not English improve on reading and writing, are also available. It’s important that each student’s specific needs are met, and this does not exclude students struggling with English.

With all this in mind, students need to be more aware of the resources so close to them that could be the key to their success if properly utilized. To spread awareness, COD should put up more posters with information and the location of the Learning Commons. This would help bring awareness to all the opportunities the Learning Commons has to offer.

For more instruction on scheduling, visit the Learning Commons website. The site provides information on how to schedule appointments and what type of tutoring is available. The Learning Commons is too valuable to be ignored. It is time that students rise up to take advantage of the resource that could be the turning point of their success.

See http://cod.edu/academics/learning_commons/pdf/lc_annual_report.pdf for more helpful information