Theresa Street  

Director, NSU Writing Center  

Lyman Beecher Brooks Library, First Floor 

Writing Center-West, MAD 109 

P: (757) 278-2587 (Ext. 11943)   [log in to unmask]  

P: (757) 823-2271  [log in to unmask]  

 

  

Office of Academic Engagement  

Norfolk State University  

700 Park Avenue   Norfolk, Virginia 23504  

  

 

I am developing a strategic plan with the goal of increasing the diversity of the staff recruited and hired by my institution's tutoring center. Certain ethnicities and ages are significantly underrepresented among the current tutoring staff, and we fear this might result in the tutoring center underserving specific populations of students (such as older students) due to lack of sufficient representation among the tutoring staff. This staffing discrepancy currently exists because the tutoring center primarily receives applications from niche, non-representative groups of students. I suspect this is, at least in part, because the tutoring center has been passively receiving applicants rather than taking a proactive recruiting approach.

Specifically, I am seeking your suggestions on best practices to support proactive diversity recruiting efforts. We are finding that it is not enough to simply welcome applications from anyone, and that instead some kind of mentorship and active outreach is probably necessary to help more students realize that they can succeed as tutors. Anecdotally, a recent hire notified our staff that she hadn't originally considered applying because none of the other tutors looked like her. Similarly, we encounter many tutees who would make excellent tutors, but who are hesitant to apply because they feel like they're not "smart enough" to be tutors (even with regular encouragement from the tutors they receive support from).

If you have any success stories, best practices, and recommendations related to proactive diversity recruiting efforts, please let me know. I also welcome any general information or anecdotes related to diversity and tutoring centers. My hope is that, by cultivating a more representative team of tutors, more students will feel that tutoring is a safe and inviting space for them to receive academic support.
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