GUTS has evolved but remains focused on student-to-student tutoring

Free tutoring. For students. By students.

After 50 years, the mission of the Greater University Tutoring Service still resonates.

Founded in Sellery Hall in 1974, GUTS served more than 400 students last semester with various types of academic assistance.

“Even though GUTS has changed, the core values remain,” said Caitlin Farrell Haven, assistant director of learning support, who works closely with GUTS. “Students empowering each other to do the work and to learn.”

GUTS is among the many tutoring options that UW–Madison have.

Originally called Help At Sellery Hall (HASH), the organization was the brainchild of Harry Webne-Behrman, a house fellow in Sellery Hall at the time who wanted to replicate a successful experience he’d had with peer tutoring in high school.

“I thought it could be really helpful, especially in this hall where you have lots of freshmen trying to adjust to college and a fair number of juniors, seniors and even graduate students who were living in Sellery, had recently taken these courses, and were perfectly capable of offering guidance,” said Webne-Behrman.

It grew quickly and soon was offering support at libraries and residence halls across campus. It even started offering a course so tutors could receive training and earn credit for their work.

GUTS now operates as a Registered Student Organization (RSO) based in 333 East Campus Mall and offers five main programs to UW–Madison students: Academic Match, Drop-In Tutoring, General Study Skills, Conversational English, and World Language Learners.

“Academic Match is small group tutoring,” Farrell Haven said. “That’s the bread and butter of GUTS.”

Last semester, Academic Match offered support for 180 students across 19 courses, including Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Economics. Most students are matched in the first two weeks of classes. GUTS also offers drop-in tutoring in Steenbock and College libraries on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Conversational English is a chance to practice English in informal environments, and World Language Learners (WLL) provides small-group settings to practice non-English languages like Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

 

This year, GUTS has also seen growing interest in their General Study Skills support. In one-on-one appointments, students can discuss organizational skills, time management, exam prep, or any other skills they might need to be successful. This fall, over 65 students attended appointments, and GUTS also hosted study skills workshops for another option.

“I’m always impressed when students show up to do those,” said Caitlin. “It’s often students who already feel overwhelmed and they’re giving up 45 minutes of their life. Kudos to them for seeing the long-term vision. They realize this will help reduce stress in the future.”

Since the very beginning, GUTS has been a collaboration between staff, students, and volunteers. “It wasn’t a solo thing at all,” said Webne-Behrman about the early years of the organization.

Today, GUTS works closely with campus partners like the McBurney Center, Multicultural Student Center, Transfer Engagement Center and individual professors.

“GUTS really values accessibility,” Farrell Haven said. “We want to ensure that tutors are in spaces where students feel comfortable, and we’re doing our part to meet the diverse needs of students across campus.”

GUTS has received more and more professional support over the years, and it’s now supervised by the Office of Academic and Career Success. But students continue to handle most of the daily work and operations.

“They’re coordinating the programs. They’re the ones providing small group and one-on-one tutoring,” Farrell Haven said. It remains a Registered Student Organization, which is empowering to students.

Each of GUTS’ five programs is overseen by a student coordinator, and there are ten total coordinators on staff. They also have about 70 tutors each semester — split between paid and volunteer, which was a key part of the mission GUTS was founded on.

Abbigail Hickman is a junior studying political science who works as the operations coordinator and a study skills specialist at GUTS. She describes her position as “my favorite job I’ve ever had on campus.”

Hickman is a first-generation college student who came to UW–Madison from out of state. When she first started, she had to develop her study skills, and now she’s able to meet with other students and help them through the same things she once had to figure out.

“It’s absolutely helpful that — other than Caitlin and our professional staff — we’re all students,” Hickman said. “We understand what students are looking for and what students need because at some point in our college experience, we’ve been them.”

To connect with any of GUTS’ five program areas, visit their website.