Virtual Conference: 2020 Virtual Tutor TIPs Symposium

Professional development is vital in ensuring Miami Dade College tutors are providing the best support  possible to students. Historically, there has been a positive correlation between professional  development of tutors and student satisfaction with learning support services. Student success improves  when those who provide academic support grow as professionals in the tutoring field. To that end,  Learning Resources (LR) has worked to build a tutor training program known as TutorTIPs. All new  tutors, lab instructors, and instructional assistants who deliver supplemental support to students  complete the Tutor Training Intensive Program (TutorTIPs). The first phase involves a 10-hour training  combining face-to-face sessions, online tutorials covering a variety of topics recommended by the  College Reading and Learning Association and the National Tutoring Association, and shadowing. This  ensures that all tutors will have the same foundational skills, are versed in a variety of tutoring  modalities, and meet the standards of the accrediting bodies. Additionally, LR hosts an annual TutorTIPs Symposium that brings tutors together across the college to network, learn, and present best practices. In 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the TutorTIPs Symposium had to pivot to a virtual setting. As a  result, not only were more tutors able to attend, learn, and provide better service to our students, but  also the department was able to leverage Libguides as a platform to preserve presentations in the form  of recordings for future training sessions.

Starting in 2015, Miami Dade College LR began holding a college-wide TutorTIPs Symposium at the end  of the fall term. This day of professional development was created to bring tutors from across the eight  campuses together to network and learn. On average, the symposium welcomed over 150 tutors from a  variety of disciplines and provided an opportunity for faculty, staff, and tutors to present and share best  practices. With the shift to remote learning, LR adapted by transitioning the historically in-person symposium to take place virtually. Taking advantage of a new modality and utilizing a virtual platform for the symposium allowed improved accessibility for participants to attend. In previous years, distance and travel limited the number of tutors and staff who could attend, so by removing the travel barrier, the attendance of the symposium increased to 219 in fall 2020. In addition, presenters from different Miami Dade College departments and campuses as well as neighboring institutions like University of Miami and Florida International University were able to attend and present using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. This increased reachability provided the opportunity to share information on topics that a face-to-face event may not have provided due to travel restrictions. 

An increased attendance translates to more tutors improving their skills to support students in their day to-day interactions, contributing to our ongoing efforts of student retention and completion. Also, LR  introduced a common theme that would address the needs of students academically and socially in both  the keynote address and subsequent breakout sessions: empathy and equity. This theme was chosen as  COVID-19 and social issues have placed a much-needed spotlight on both empathy and equity in higher education. Personnel from across the college participated to present and share topics such as:  Promoting the Values of Empathy and Equity while Providing Writing Support to English as a Second  Language (ESL) Students and Factors Affecting Black Male Student Success in Two-Year State Colleges.

Embracing a new modality for the symposium, LR first began with creating a TutorTIPs Symposium Libguide to serve as a virtual interactive agenda. As development continued, the Libguide platform provided an opportunity to display the session materials for each presenter, and after the symposium’s completion, a recording of the session. This new opportunity to archive each breakout session lets participants view sessions they could not attend or want to share with others. In the post-symposium survey, 92.3% of participants agreed that, “having the content archived on the Libguide for future learning is useful.” The creation of this Libguide as a hosting platform for the symposium also created the long-term benefit of archiving symposiums so that a curated source of  professional development can be used in the future. The goal is that the videos and materials shared can  supplement the professional development that each campus delivers between symposiums and that the  collection of topics will continue to grow in an equitable way. Overall, participants reported that the  sessions were well connected to the work they do on a day-to-day basis, and that the Libguide for the  symposium was easy to navigate, “a Libguide creates a hub of information tutors and staff can add to  and reuse.” 

To promote engagement during and after the day of the symposium, LR employed Hyvor, a program that allows participants to react and comment on each session’s page. 93.8% of those surveyed after the symposium agreed that, “the symposium remained engaging in a virtual format.” The inclusion of this new program means that interaction does not end after the day’s event concluded. As tutors go back to review other sessions, the Hyvor comment box will become  a way for tutors and academic support staff to discuss materials and network on a professional level. In  addition, utilizing the public Libguide and implementing Hyvor allows transparency between students  and academic support, as students can view and be actively part of the feedback process for future tutor professional development decision-making.

By transitioning to a virtual symposium, and with topics focusing on empathy and equity, the positive  correlation that occurred between student satisfaction and tutor professional development in the past  will continue to grow in the future, but this time representing the support provided to our students  remotely. Remote learning has changed both student and colleague interactions. Instead of working towards a “new normal” Learning Resources is focusing on an “improved normal” that addresses equity  in the services provided for students as well as the development opportunities for tutors. This new  modality proved to be successful and has set a new standard for training archiving to ensure new tutors  in departments across all eight campuses can benefit from past trainings and discussions.