The Supplemental Instruction (SI) program provides academic support for students in large, required, and/or challenging courses. Faculty members collaborate with the CTL Assistant Director for Student Support Programs to identify potential SI Leaders for their courses. SI Leaders are undergraduate students who have taken the course and done well, and each SI Leader works with a specific course. They attend lectures, participate in class activities, and serve as model students for their peers. SI Leaders also hold regular study sessions outside of class to help students develop study skills and master the course content. Attendance in SI sessions is voluntary but encouraged.
Want to Be an SI Leader?
Applications for Fall 2025 are closed. Check back soon for Spring 2025 information!
SI Leaders earn $16 per hour for approximately ten hours per week. Returning SI Leaders will have an opportunity to become Head SI Leaders and earn $18 per hour. To be eligible, students must have taken the course before and done well (B+ or higher). Students of all races, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, national origins, ages, disability statuses, and veteran statuses are encouraged to apply.
What Students Are Saying About SI
We discussed relevant topics to the materials presented in class and projects. Questions were always welcome and encouraged. The SI leader provided good advice and helped me understand the material in a down-to-earth and approachable manner. I looked forward to attending the SI sessions because it allowed me to connect to other students while taking a virtual/online class.
[SI] made me feel more comfortable to ask questions in class, so then going into exams and working on other assignments I was more confident in myself and my performance.
The most rewarding part of my job has been hearing feedback from students that they seem to actually be grasping the information better. I also quite enjoyed just developing a greater command of the material and building a foundation that could be beneficial to not just me, but my hypothetical future semester(s) at teaching others.
Being an SI leader has led me to become much more empathetic towards all of my professors, because I am now easily able to put myself in their place when they are teaching, and understand their struggles. It has also helped me to understand that a large aspect of being a good teacher and role model is simply being approachable. When students feel comfortable asking questions and giving feedback, it makes the learning process easier on everyone and more productive overall.
The most rewarding part of my job as an SI leader has been helping students learn how to critically analyze various philosophical articles and arguments throughout the semester. Hearing the excitement in a student's voice when they finally understand an argument or come up with a creative critique is incredibly gratifying and makes me feel like I am being useful to students.
This experience has shown me that successful learning is not only determined by grades.
SI Leaders in the News
