The ACE Building; Made to Bring Ease to Your College Experience

By: Sarah Baase

Imagine having an open space where you can go to on your own time to get your work done comfortably and efficiently, with tutors being just at arm’s length, and a community of staff who are open and willing to assist you with your academic problems…

Well, here at SUNY Niagara we have that, and it’s known as the ACE building (Academic Center for Excellence) on the second floor attached to the library, where they offer over ninety courses for tutoring services.

With the ACE tutors being in arms reach, you never have to worry about failing again.

During an interview with ACE coordinator Madison Ebsary, she gave me the full run down of everything that ACE has to offer, from tutoring, to job opportunities, to coziness and relaxation, the ACE building has it all. She describes the ACE building as “…feeling like we’re inside a snow globe…”

Online Zoom Sessions

Ebsary aims to highlight the online tutoring services held through the ACE learning center. “You don’t have to be an online student to do tutoring online via Zoom.” Which is yet another amazing feature of the ACE learning center; the same tutors you can find in the building can also meet with you online if you have no availability otherwise. In fact, during this Spring semester alone there have been over one hundred online zoom appointments made, and while the rates of in person sessions remain higher in count, it is still a beneficial service to have as an option.

Requirements for Tutoring

Another great feature of the tutoring program is that students can apply for one of their positions right through the ACE website and get paid an hourly rate of sixteen/hour. The requirements, Ebsary explains, are the following:

• they already have obtained twelve credit hours
• they have a 3.0 or higher overall GPA
• they have a B or higher in any of the courses they are wishing to tutor
• they have faculty recommendation(s)

**Keep in mind that if anyone has specific questions about the tutoring program offered, they can visit the ACE building and talk to one of the front desk staff members.

If you are in fact interested in tutoring a course, Ebsary made note that the top few courses that need the most help with tutors are anatomy and physiology (one and two), and math. She says, “…our math courses are always high in demand.”

For All of Those Taking Finals…

The full schedule of online and in person tutoring sessions, they are the following:

8AM-8PM on Monday-Thursday

8AM-5PM on Fridays

10AM-2AM on Saturdays

**Keep in mind that these hours may vary based upon holidays and campus-wide events.

If you are feeling stressed about the semester ending, you can feel free to make an appointment through the front desk or the Penji app. Ebsary also explains, “We are also going to participate in a stress-less event on May fifth. We’ll have the campus spa come into our conference room… so we’ll have spa services.”