New math center now available in Bayou building
FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ
THE SIGNAL
There is a room located in the Student Services Building that is said to cure numerous ailments.
From anxiety to tachycardia, and everything in between, students who spend time within the walls of this room are known to leave with a renewed sense of understanding and control toward an obstacle that many have come to know as math.
For the past three months Allen Cox, director of the Math Center, has worked diligently to make this tutoring facility an approachable and helpful environment for any UHCL student to come and strengthen their mathematical muscles.
“We want students to feel comfortable with coming into our tutoring center,” Cox said. “We don’t want to stress them out more than they already are for perhaps doing poorly in a math course.”
The Math Center, located in SSCB 2.101, now offers tutoring in more than 20 different mathematic sections ranging from College Algebra to Advanced Calculus and is open to all UHCL students who need a little extra help getting a grip on their math course.
Cox joined the UHCL Division of Student Services team in January. Not only has he been a private math tutor since the age of 17, he has experience teaching a number of mathematics courses at universities such as Kent State and Michigan State. Cox earned both his M.A. in mathematics and B.S. in mathematics at Kent State University.
Because of his experience teaching and tutoring in different education centers, Cox is excited to mold the Math Center into the most effective and accessible math tutoring facility possible.
An inviting sense of calm and focus can be felt in the room as math tutors engage with students one-on-one at tables and in nearby study rooms. Almost visible is the illumination of light bulbs turning on outside heads of the once confused students who decided to walk through the door.
Cox realizes that to many students, even the thought of math can trigger anxiety and feelings of discouragement.
“A big reason why a lot of students do not finish their degree is because they do not complete their math requirement,” Cox said. “So when I came on in January we opened the Math Center up to tutor any math course that we could; now we offer tutoring for almost every single math course.”
Math major Melissa Rubio is one of the Math Center’s nine friendly tutors; her energetic and welcoming presence can be felt as she walks into the room. Rubio raves about the satisfaction she feels when she is able to help students realize that they can understand once seemingly impossible math concepts. She said she “absolutely loves it” when students come back to show off their passing math grades after visiting her for tutoring sessions.
“For me math is fun, and teaching it to students in a way where they understand the concepts is very rewarding for me,” Rubio said. “I want every student to know that there is no such thing as a question that is too dumb or too small; if there is something that you don’t understand just stop by, and we will love to explain it to you in a way you can understand.”
The Math Center is currently in the process of transferring to a new facility in the Bayou Building that is larger and better equipped to serve the anticipated growth of the UHCL student body. They even have a presence on social media and are looking into online tutoring.
“We want to renovate the Math Center to be a very comprehensive resource for any student taking a mathematics course,” Cox said. “Our goal is to create a more open relationship with the student body so that they feel comfortable coming in when they genuinely need help.”
The Math Center is open to all UHCL students Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on a drop-in basis. It is closed on Fridays. A complete list of math courses that are available for drop-in tutoring can be found on the homepage of the Math Center’s website at www.uhcl.edu/mathcenter.
Correction: April 7, 2014
This article reflects the following changes from the print edition:
The print edition of The Signal incorrectly stated on the bottom of the front page that the new Math Center is located it in SSCB. The new Math Center is located in the Bayou building and headline of this article has been changed to alert readers to the difference. The photo caption has been changed to reflect the correct spelling of Paromita Banerjee’s name. The print edition incorrectly stated that the Math Center is open on Fridays. It is closed on Fridays and the article has been changed to show the correct hours. A misspelling of mathematics has been corrected.
