Westminster College’s Office of Academic Success has been awarded certification as a Level 1 certified tutor training program by the internationally recognized College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).

Achieving certification means that the Office of Academic Success has met CRLA’s high standards for tutor selection, training, direct service and evaluation as an integral part of their overall tutoring program.

“We are thrilled to be awarded the CRLA certification,” said Director Jessica Shelenberger. “Being awarded this certification indicates that our peer tutoring training program is in the company of other top programs in the country. I’m so proud of the work our peer tutors do each day to support their peers academically.”

Ariel Junkin, who is in her second year as peer tutor coordinator, accepted the certification on Friday, Oct. 4, on behalf of the office. Junkin leads the 24-member peer tutor staff, which provides course-specific support for all students, free of charge, in a variety of formats.

Each year, the peer tutors in the Office of Academic Success must complete at least 10 hours of professional training, as well as a minimum of 25 hours of tutoring, in accordance with CRLA’s rigorous standards. Junkin outlined this program in a comprehensive application process and then submitted it to the peer review process of CRLA's International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC).

Reviewers said the program’s strengths included a “very good hiring/application process,” as well as an “evaluation process (that lets the) tutor know exactly where they are as far as their trainings go (if they are using what they have learned).” Further, one reviewer said, “you are already training a variety of levels for your tutors. You should become Level 2 and maybe even Level 3 certified."

For more than 30 years CRLA has been a leader in learning assistance, reading and academic support programs with almost 1,300 members and over 2,000 certified training programs worldwide.

For more information, please contact Shelenberger at shelenjp@westminster.edu.

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