Academic Services
St. John’s College offers regular academic assistance to all students. Twenty-three paid student assistants each work 10 hours per week to help students prepare for each class and their assignments, with a particular emphasis on math, Greek, French, music, and writing. Most meetings with academic assistants are one-on-one and last at least 30 minutes. (The math, Greek, and French assistants also detail their work with students in a daily log that is reviewed by the assistant dean’s office.) In the laboratory program, an additional twenty-four student lab assistants help the director of laboratories prepare for, set up, and run experiments performed in all lab tutorials.
In addition to one-on-one sessions, the math and Greek assistants regularly hold special topical sessions for interested students. Some of these open group sessions work on particular areas of review, others are opportunities for students who want to do more work on the subject or delve further into particular concepts.
Three times each week, two study assistants hold open hours to provide a quiet, communal place for study, and also offer advice on how to engage effectively with the academic work, both in and out of the classroom.
The assistant dean meets regularly with individual students who are struggling academically at the college. The assistant dean is a tutor at the college with more than a decade of experience across a wide range of classes. At these meetings, a student will work with the assistant dean to identify difficulties, discuss available resources, and set up a plan for thriving academically at the college. Students who are struggling may also be assigned a faculty mentor, who will meet regularly with the student to talk about and support their academic progress.
The Office of the Assistant Dean oversees academic support at the college. The office can be contacted through outreach to Assistant Dean Robert Abbott via email, phone or in-person visit at: