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 Programming 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.
Spring 2025 Course Support Timeline:
-Oct 1, 2024: Faculty applications open
-Oct 18, 2024: Faculty priority applications due
-Oct 25, 2024: Faculty notified of intent to support; Student applications open
-Dec 6, 2024: Student applications due
-Dec 13, 2024: Hiring decisions made
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.
Spring 2025 faculty priority applications are closed. If you are teaching a high DFW, general education, and/or prerequisite course and have experienced last-minute changes (e.g., late course assignment, a newly opened section), please contact Brianna Anderson (brianna.anderson@umsl.edu) to discuss potential support options. We understand that unforeseen circumstances may arise and we are happy to explore ways to assist.
“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 participant, Summer 2021
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.” SI participant, Summer 2021
“Being able to inspire students and help them realize that while the course might be tough it does not mean it is impossible! Also, getting to work closely with professors and students makes me think of new ways to approach content and it helps me improve my learning skills while helping students.” SI leader Jason Martin, Summer 2021
“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.” SI Leader Nick Black, Summer 2021
