After completing a rigorous review process, Pitt Community College’s Tutorial and Academic Support Center (TASC) has earned Level I International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC) from the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).

According to PCC TASC Coordinator Tiffany Vega, college tutoring staff spent the past year working toward certification by demonstrating to CRLA their program’s sound hiring and selection practices, planned training experiences, tutor experience, and consistent evaluation process.

“ITTPC certification is an internationally-accepted standard of skills and training for tutors,” Vega said. “It’s a benchmark for academic support excellence, and certification means PCC tutors can better assist students with becoming confident, independent learners.”

Vega said ITTPC training helps Pitt tutors strengthen professional and personal skills. CRLA certification, she added, gives them “a tangible accolade” that distinguishes them as internationally-recognized, trained professionals.

“With this certification, PCC students can take comfort knowing they are being assisted by tutors who are trained in effective and holistic learning strategies, communication skills, and structuring the tutoring and learning assistance experience,” Vega said.

TASC, which features math, writing and science centers in addition to an academic skills lab, plays an essential role in student retention at PCC. The program helps curriculum students achieve their educational goals by making tutorial assistance available to them in a wide variety of subjects, including English, math, history, psychology, physics, chemistry and several foreign languages.

During the 2022 Fall Semester, TASC’s 28 peer and professional tutors and supplemental instruction leaders conducted 1,774 tutoring sessions that assisted 325 unique students. While PCC paid the tutors for their work, there was no cost to the students who received their services.

With headquarters in Wisconsin, CRLA is an internationally-recognized leader in learning assistance, reading and academic support programs. The organization offers more than 2,000 certified training programs worldwide and has grown to nearly 1,300 members since getting started in 1966.