MSU Supplemental Instruction gains reaccreditation, helps students succeed in challenging courses

Dr. Chelsea Vincent trains student workers in Supplemental Instruction — Student leaders of ��Ƶ’s Supplemental Instruction program undergo training in an Allen Hall computer lab. MSU's SI program received reaccreditation for a three-year period and is one of numerous campus initiatives to help students achieve academic success. (Photo by Megan Bean)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A ��Ƶ program that helps students achieve classroom success is receiving reaccreditation for a three-year period.

One of less than 65 accredited Supplemental Instruction programs in the U.S., one of four in the Southeastern Conference and the only one in Mississippi, MSU’s SI program is free for students and designed to increase academic success in course students may find challenging. It is directed by MSU’s Center for Academic Excellence.

The university program maintains its accreditation by meeting standards set by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction. These standards include having an average of 35% of enrolled students attending SI and demonstrating overall positive results, including a higher course grade point average and lower percentages of D and F grades and withdrawals.

“This is a great accomplishment for the Supplemental Instruction program here at MSU,” said Clay Armstrong, executive director of the university’s Center for Academic Excellence. “We are so proud to be the only accredited program in Mississippi. As proud as I am of the reaccreditation, I am most proud of the real-world impact the program has had and continues to have. SI has helped thousands of students. To think that this program has been able to reach that many students and produce more than 185,000 SI visits since 2015—wow, what an impact.”

Students who tutor for SI courses have recently and successfully completed a specific course and facilitates study sessions of this course outside of regular class time in a comfortable setting. The voluntary sessions are open to all students and are anonymous, so faculty members are not aware which pupils are participating. SI leaders are student employees who have earned an A in a previous semester, preferably under the same instructor, and want to help other students excel. This is a non-remedial approach where students work collaboratively to improve retention, discuss complex topics and prepare for tests.

MSU courses offering SI include biology, calculus, chemistry, genetics, psychology and statistics, among others. The university’s program continues to grow each year and positively impacting student success, including a 12% lower DFW rate than students who do not attend SI. Armstrong attributes the program’s success to its coordinator Chelsey Vincent.

“All of the credit for this goes to Dr. Chelsey Vincent and the amazing team of students she has every semester,” he said. “Dr. Vincent is the only coordinator the program has had, she and hires great students and makes them even greater. Thank you to her and thank you to all our university partners who support and believe in the program.”

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