Student Carlos Sierra represents one of the 150 peer and professional tutors employed by the Cerullo Learning Assistance Center.
PARAMUS, N.J. – For the second time in three years, the Bergen Community College Cerullo Learning Assistance Center has received an award recognizing it as a top tutoring center in the country. The National Tutoring Association (NTA) will honor Bergen with its “community college program of the year” award at the organization’s annual conference in Tampa, Florida next month. The tutoring center previously earned the National College Learning Center Association Frank L. Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award in 2014.
“The Cerullo Learning Assistance Center represents one of Bergen’s finest resources,” College President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., said. “The staff’s continued dedication to supporting student success has not only resulted in recognition from organizations like the National Tutoring Association and National College Learning Center Association, but the College’s accreditation evaluators as well. During their visit this month, they specifically cited the center as a leading contributor to the institution’s overall excellence.”
The NTA remains the oldest and largest professional association dedicated exclusively to tutoring, and represents the interests of thousands of tutors in the U.S. and 13 countries.
As the College has sought to prepare greater numbers of students for graduation, enhanced student support services such as tutoring have become a focus area. The initiatives have helped Bergen rank first in New Jersey for associate degree graduates the last two years.
The Cerullo Center provided no-cost, one-on-one, walk-in and in-class tutoring for more than 9,000 students making 56,000 visits last year. More than 150 peer and professional tutors assist students in 300 subjects. The center also offers workshops, conversation groups and supplemental instruction as part of its multi-faceted approach. It counts a math and science walk-in center, writing center and English language resource center among its support services.
Khairia Fazal, managing director of learning assistance, has led the tutoring center for more than 20 years. A donation from Bergen County residents Henry and Edith Cerullo led to a rededication of the student resource in 2003.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 15,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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