UA offers blend of services for academic help.

Tutoring to be available in person

FAYETTEVILLE — Students will have the option of attending in-person tutoring in the coming spring semester at the University of Arkansas, a spokesman said.

The university in the fall offered online one-on-one sessions to ensure social distancing during the pandemic, UA spokesman John Post said.

But in the upcoming semester, “tutoring and other services such as peer academic coaching will offer a blended approach in the spring to offer versatility for students based on their preferences,” Post said.

For any in- person sessions, “face coverings and social distancing will be required” per campus guidelines, Post said.

The decision to move forward with in-person tutoring is part of an ongoing push at UA to provide more services to students on campus even as the state sees record-high numbers of covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. At UA, there have been more than 2,325 student cases of covid-19 since June 15, according to state Department of Health data.

Chancellor Joe Steinmetz and University of Arkansas trustees earlier in the fall called for more in-person classes in the spring semester, which is to begin Jan. 11.

UA last month released a safety plan for the spring semester with a new set of “overarching principles.”

The plan states offices across campus “will be open during normal business hours and should plan accordingly with employee coverage, particularly student-facing operations that

Post said some students prefer online sessions and those will continue to be offered this spring.

may need a regular presence to support students.”

The university employs students as tutors in various subjects, and “tutors will be given the option to choose between in-person or remote tutoring,” Post said.

Erin Boyd, 21, a senior biochemistry major from Little Rock, said she tutored remotely this past fall.

“I think that if the campus holds on-campus classes then in-person tutoring should also be made available to students. I would feel comfortable tutoring students in-person as long as the student had not been experiencing symptoms,” she said.

Post said some students prefer online sessions and those will continue to be offered this spring.

“We heard from quite a few students this fall who preferred the virtual 1:1 appointments — no waiting in lines in the hallway and meeting notes can be kept digitally for easy retrieval later on,” Post said.

While Post said the “vast majority” of tutoring appointments took place online in the fall semester, he described some in-person sessions for members of Razorback intercollegiate athletic teams.

“Only a few student-athletes received in-person tutoring in the fall semester, and those were only for specific students after careful planning with our academic counselors and our tutors or learning assistants. For the limited in-person tutoring appointments, strict requirements of face coverings and social distancing were employed. The safety of our student-athletes will continue to be our utmost priority,” Post said.