Cincinnati State to open Tutoring Center “annex” April 25

April 22, 2011

It doesn’t take long for new students at Cincinnati State to discover what faculty and staff have known for years: if you want to find instructor Brad Levy, a good place to start looking is the cafeteria.

It’s not because he’s particularly fond of eating. Rather, it’s because he could quite often be found seated at a book-strewn table in the middle of the noisy cafeteria, surrounded by students, engrossed in another volunteer tutoring session.

Levy teaches developmental math and algebra at Cincinnati State. Last year he was one of two instructors awarded the college’s House-Bruckmann Award for teaching excellence.

He came to Cincinnati State as a student in 1995, a construction worker planning to major in engineering technologies, and graduated with a associate’s degree in mathematics and the ambition of becoming a teacher. After earning his bachelor’s degree in math from Northern Kentucky University he began teaching as an adjunct at Cincinnati State.

After earning a Master’s degree from Xavier University he was hired in 2006 as a math instructor in developmental education. He immediately joined the Tutoring Center as a volunteer, typically devoting about two hours a day to the cause. But instead of spending that time in the Tutoring Center, which is tucked away off a second-floor hallway in space carved out of the college library, he sought out creative venues for reaching students who need individualized educational support.

These days Levy typically tutors between 20 and 30 students each day, mostly in the cafeteria. This approach has proved to be so popular that more than half a dozen other Cincinnati State instructors have also volunteered their time. Subject matter includes math, science, algebra, English and Spanish.

All good, but the setting is less than ideal for academic pursuits – too much noise, too little space, no whiteboards, no computers.

At noon on Monday, April 25, Cincinnati State President O’dell M. Owens will cut the ribbon on a room that’s designed to change that. The new space will maintain the informal feel of the tutoring sessions as well as the proximity to the cafeteria, but provide a better atmosphere for learning.

The “Tutoring Center Annex,’’ as the new room will be called, is located in the Advanced Technology and Learning Center, in a carpeted, glassed-in space adjoining the cafeteria. It will be temporarily outfitted with tables and chairs borrowed from other departments, but soon, thanks to a generous donation from a local corporation, it will be fully equipped with everything Levy and his growing roster of volunteers need for their work.

Growing? Indeed. Since word of the new center began to spread, Levy has been approached by a number of faculty members, and even an administrator, Academic Vice President Monica Posey, with offers of volunteer time. If it goes as planned, the annex might well be serving as many as 150 students a day.

For more information about Cincinnati State’s tutoring program, please visit www.cincinnatistate.edu and type “tutoring’’ in the search bar.