Providing a quality tutoring service to all the students at UF is important, and I don't think anyone would disagree that it is a great idea for Student Government to promote tutoring; however, SG is supporting the wrong establishment.
UF has its very own tutoring service: the Broward Tutoring Center (BTC). Students are able to go to www.teachingcenter.ufl.edu and view who is tutoring what subjects and at what time slot they would be available. The BTC offers walk-in hours, private appointments, practice tests, exam reviews and discussion sessions for all lower level math, science and English classes.
Although most tutoring that concerns students is for lower level classes, BTC also offers tutors for a large portion of upper division classes. The best attribute of BTC is that it is completely free for all UF students.
Ethan Fieldman, one of Tutoring Zone's owners, said, "This way tutoring becomes much more affordable," in reference to the new Facebook application where students can check times and prices at which tutoring is provided.
What is more affordable: free tutoring or an app that shows you tutoring costs? Even though BTC provides the same quality of tutoring as Tutoring Zone, Tutor Train, etc., they do not get the publicity they deserve. I don't think that students enjoy paying for a question packet when they can get the same material for free at BTC, so I can only assume that they are not well-informed.
SG should be teaming up with its own associated tutoring service that is free to its students, instead of promoting expensive outside services.
