Supplemental Instruction Center

Supplemental Instruction (SI) Center

Location: S-116

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 201-879-3621

Kriselle Dabal, SI Coordinator
Su Isik, SI Assistant

What is Supplemental Instruction (SI)?
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an internationally recognized program that strives to improve student success in targeted courses.

If your course offers SI, it will be announced the first day of class by your assigned Supplemental Instruction Leader.


What happens during a typical SI session? 

The group reviews lecture notes, discusses questions, applies concepts, and learns tips and new study skills to help participants become more independent as learners, more confident and more successful in the course. Group activities, games, hands-on projects, test-taking exercises and memory techniques can all be part of a session. 

When and where are SI sessions held?

SI sessions usually meet two or three times a week. While individual course SI sessions will try to meet at the same site every time, different courses may have their SI sessions meet in different rooms. You will be notified of dates, sites, and times in your course.

What if there is no SI Leader in my particular lecture class?

In many of the targeted courses, there are more sections than there are available SI leaders. While each SI session follows the course design for its assigned section, you are welcome to attend any SI sessions for a course you are enrolled in!

What is a Certified SI Program?

Bergen Community College’s Supplemental Instruction Center is a Certified SI Program.

SI Certification is granted by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), the “home” of SI.

Certification provides a way to distinguish SI programs that are adhering to the core principles of the SI model. Certified centers meet the “Core Four” requirements to be designated an SI Certified Program:

  1. SI Supervisors are trained by a Certified SI Trainer from the International Center for SI at UMKC.
  2. SI Leaders receive intensive training both at the beginning of each semester and throughout the semester.
  3. The program must include an intensive focus on SI Leaders planning sessions and those sessions being regularly observed by program staff.
  4. The program must require that SI Leaders attend class sessions; the program must also demonstrate robust data collection, including student attendance, GPA, and DFW data.