The Snell Library Peer Tutoring Center is now officially certified by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). The CRLA has certified over 700 tutoring programs in the US and Canada, making it one of the major peer tutoring certification programs in North America. The Tutoring Center's training program received high praise from the evaluators. It was described as being "one of the best… very organized and thorough… the training program is excellent." In addition to receiving center certification, the NU Libraries Tutoring Center may now train and certify its own tutors.

An awards ceremony recognizing Snell Library Peer Tutors and the Center's new certification status will be held on Wednesday, April 6, 2005, from noon-1:30 p.m. in the McLeod Suite, Room 318, Curry Student Center.

"I am delighted to see that the Library Peer Tutoring Center has been recognized for the excellence of its work. Tutoring is an integral part of the Library's mission as we seek to enhance learning and research skills and to improve critical thinking skills as students seek and interpret information," says Ed Warro, Dean of the University Libraries.

The Peer Tutoring Center is headed by Roberta Schotka and was established over 30 years ago. In recent years the program has made extensive enhancements and last year provided over 6900 hours of tutoring to students, a 49% increase from the previous year. Of the students that received tutoring, 95% said that they would use the Center's services again. At this time, the center has 75 practice-oriented tutors. In order to be certified, all tutors must meet a set of criteria put out established by the CRLA. Requirements include: successful completion of at least ten hours of training, an individual performance evaluation and 25 hours of tutoring.

The Peer Tutoring Center is an essential part of achieving the Library's mission to advance academic excellence and promote information literacy for Northeastern University students.