Legal Commentary

At my school, student tutors typically are assigned to each 1L course. These tutors are chosen and compensated by the SBA. The SBA seems to try to assign tutors who took that professor for the particular course, but this alignment isn?t always possible. The SBA also typically seems to solicit professor opinion on tutor candidates, but the degree of input sought seems to vary somewhat from year to year. Otherwise, to my knowledge, no formal system exists for professors to choose and supervise the SBA tutors, although I imagine that individual professors could assert themselves in the process.

I have no idea how common this practice is at other schools, and I have wondered about whether and how to incorporate our SBA tutors into my courses. Invariably, 1Ls ask for my input: Should we go to the tutorials? What do I think of the tutor? Will you look at some materials the tutor gave to us? The tutors themselves sometimes will reach out to me, usually to review or confirm an answer to a student?s question.

Over the last three years I have seen absolutely wonderful and diligent student tutors, but also some who were not as diligent as I would have expected if I had hired him or her.

Is this student tutor system used at other schools? If so, do students find the tutors helpful, especially at reviewing substantive material, rather than simply helping students to develop good study habits and stress-management techniques? Do professors at these schools work with the student tutors? If so, how involved do you get in the tutor hiring process? What limits and requirements, if any, do you place on your work with tutors?