A new year has brought new changes to EDGE: Structured Study, a program that has seen a change in leadership three times in the past three years. With faculty coming in and out of the position, student services has decided to take a different angle by making it a department effort.
With EDGE being mostly run by students, these little changes make a world of difference. Rebecca Rychel, the newest graduate assistant for student services, is highly involved in EDGE. Having had the experience of being an EDGE tutor in the past, Rychel knows how to work with student tutors as well as students who use EDGE services.
With the student services office being one of the smaller offices on campus, the faculty has changed leadership, making EDGE more of a group effort. With the last director leaving last spring, and the department still looking to fill the position, spreading out the duties for EDGE has been more crucial for the faculty and the student workers.
“With no one in charge, we have been all pitching in and doing different things for EDGE,” Rychel said. “I make an effort to actually go to EDGE and see how it is going.”
One of the biggest struggles EDGE has had in the past is that their hours were only from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. This was causing students who live off-campus or students who work at night to miss the valuable tutoring that EDGE offers.
“We are very excited to have our new morning hours in the Writing Center,” Rychel said. “We have been working on this since last spring and it’s exciting to have it underway. We had too many students coming to us with the problem of missing EDGE because of work or commuting.”
These new hours provide an opportunity for all students to get the help they need. The new changes didn’t only help the students going to EDGE, but the students who work at EGDE as well. For example, the math tutors get dry erase boards to help enhance the learning experience of the students who attend edge.
Rychel said, “The small changes to EGDE this year really add up to make it a better environment as a whole for our students.”
Tiara Sondgeroth, a senior biology tutor, has been a part of the program for three years. Watching Edge evolve over the years, she says that it is always improving to provide the best atmosphere for all of the students.
“As a tutor, we have been given the opportunity to hold hours in the morning, which is great for us and also for the students that are unable to attend the nightly EDGE hours,” said Sondgeroth. “As tutors, we also only have to log our tutees once instead of in two separate locations, which was a hassle. Overall, I think the changes made to EDGE are providing the workers and those that attend with a more enjoyable experience, which means great things for EDGE.”
There is so much trust in the tutors and monitors of EDGE, making the students’ input important. With EDGE being mostly a student-run program, this takes weight off the shoulders of the faculty in student services. While waiting for a new director to come through, Academic Support and Student Services will work together to keep EDGE running smoothly. The new changes seem to be making both the tutor and tutees happier with the way EDGE is ran.
The new morning hours for EDGE are now in the writing center from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Friday.
