Drew Gonrowski, associate director of peer assistance learning at the Shepard Academic Resource Center, departed from the university yesterday on June 12, 2024. Gonrowski is the second UP employee to leave the university in the last three weeks following the departure of Associate Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Tamara Herdener.
According to an email sent to current co-pilots on June 3, Gonrowski has accepted a position at Reed College as the director of academic support and looks forward to the new opportunity to grow professionally.
“It’ll just be different challenges,” Gonrowski said.
Though it's unclear who will replace Gonrowski, the Shepherd Academic Resource Center plans to fill the position before the start of the fall semester and anticipates little change to peer tutoring services at UP moving forward, according to an email sent to The Beacon by Brenda Greiner, director of the Shepherd Academic Resource Center.
Greiner, who says she will be the point of contact for questions regarding summer tutoring services, also confirmed that the department plans to continue offering drop-in hours and paid training.
During her two-year tenure at the university, Gonrowski implemented significant changes, including the centralization of all peer tutoring services. This change encompassed oversight of all academic assistance within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Pamplin School of Business, the School of Nursing and Health Innovations and the Shiley School of Engineering.
“Before I started, tutoring was really decentralized,” Gonrowski said. “It was done by different schools [within the university.] Now it’s all centralized in one space and overseen by my position. It's more organized.”
In addition to the centralization of peer tutoring services, Gonrowski also spearheaded several initiatives in an effort to make peer learning more accessible. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, the introduction of a Learning Commons conduct policy, drop-in hours for co-pilots, paid training on important topics such as trauma-informed care, after-visit surveys and a library of online academic resources.
These combined efforts from Gonrowski and her team have resulted in noticeable satisfaction among students utilizing peer tutoring services, according to Gonrowski.
Post-visit surveys indicate that 97% of students who used co-pilot services in fall 2023 and spring 2024 felt more confident as students after tutoring, and 96% reported that co-pilots helped them better understand course content.
Gonrowski credits Learning Commons student assistants with catalyzing the efforts needed to create academic resources and a welcoming learning environment for their peers. Co-pilots such as alumni Sophia Osuna and Cami Villanueva spearheaded the implementation of trauma-informed tutoring training and English as a Second Language training, respectively.
“One of my joys in the job has been seeing students [co-pilots] do all these projects and finding ways that I can support them so they can have these opportunities to expand and build their skills,” Gonrowski said.
Gonrowski leaves her position at UP with great pride and appreciation for the co-pilots who have worked with her, citing them as the best part of her job.
“[Co-pilots] are my favorite thing about this job,” Gonrowski said. “Seeing how much they want to help their classmates is so motivating… Co-pilots are helping these students feel a little better. Maybe they're going to still have a challenge with that course or that assignment, but they're feeling a little better about it, and that's all we can try to do when we help one another.”
Maggie Dapp is the Sports Editor at The Beacon. She can be reached at dapp26@up.edu.
