Statistics might not be easy, but now students have access to full-time help. That’s thanks to the new Statistics Success Center, a tutoring center staffed by statistics instructors in Colorado State University’s Department of Statistics in the College of Natural Sciences.

Located in the Statistics Building’s Room 006, the center is open every day of the week except Saturday and provides walk-in assistance for students in introductory statistics courses. Students in advanced classes are also welcome, said Ben Prytherch, an undergraduate advisor and instructor in the statistics department. Prytherch said that he hopes the center helps students understand the subject better.

“Statistics is hard,” he said, “We’ll make it easier”

Above-average success

The center was started this semester after the statistics department noticed that some students needed help outside of class but couldn’t make it to office hours.

“It used to be ‘here are a handful of set office hour times, and if you can’t make any of those, I’m sorry,’” Prytherch said. “And now it’s a room that’s open [just about] from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.”

The center has been a hit so far, with at least 1,000 sign-ins in the past five weeks, Prytherch said. Although he hasn’t done any formal studies on its effectiveness yet, Prytherch said he’s seen many students coming into the center feeling confused and leaving feeling confident.

“The students who I see coming in regularly, it seems pretty clear that they’re benefiting from it,” he said.

One student, who had visited the center multiple times, found the center so useful that she wrote a note at the bottom of the first test: “Thank you stats center for helping me understand this literal entire page.”

For more information, visit the center’s website and check out the tutoring schedule.

The Statistics Department also operates the Graybill Statistical Laboratory, which provides statistical consulting for students, faculty and staff at CSU. These services entail advanced consulting on statistics used in research projects and are available by appointment.