Kristyn Brewer Ranked Top Five For International Supplemental Instruction Award

May 21, 2022

BATON ROUGE –

Kristyn Brewer, LSU accounting junior from Houston, Texas, ranked top five internationally for the International Center for Supplemental Instruction’s 2021 Outstanding New SI Leader award.

Outstanding New SI Leader is awarded to someone who worked as an SI Leader for less than one academic year and demonstrates significant personal and professional growth.

SI is a series of weekly study sessions led by a student who has previously excelled in the course. As an SI Leader, Brewer works with faculty to reinforce course material and help students practice new skills, apply course-related content and interact with classmates. She also serves as an SI Mentor, helping new SI Leaders transition into their role.

Being nominated for the award meant more to Brewer than being a finalist.

“My boss, the faculty member I work with and my coworkers put in the time and effort to nominate me,” she said. “They saw potential in me to get that far. I’m grateful and honored to be nominated, no matter if I was a finalist or won. I’m very grateful for the people who helped me along the way and saw how much I was growing as a leader.”

Brewer started working with the SI program in Spring 2021. In her first semester, she was one of the only SI Leaders who held in-person sessions. New SI Leaders at the time were trained for virtual study sessions. Brewer had to modify what she learned in training to fit the in-person session format.

Accounting professor Jan Holmes said Brewer rose to the challenge of navigating campus safety protocols while maintaining good rapport with students.

“She was a great encourager to the Accounting 2001 students during uncertain times,” Holmes wrote in her letter of support. “She ran effective sessions and gave much needed in-person instruction and encouragement to the students all throughout the semester.”

Cody Bunch, an accounting SI Leader who works closely with Brewer, said many of his students were introduced to the SI program through Brewer.

“These are always the most attentive and interactive people in attendance to my sessions,” Bunch wrote in his letter of support. “This shows how big of an impact Kristyn had while conducting her sessions because of the expectations she established. Kristyn has had a semesters-long impact on everyone who has attended both her and my sessions.”

Brewer plans to attend graduate school for accounting.

The LSU Center for Academic Success helps students achieve the higher levels of learning necessary for academic success in college and beyond. CAS offers free services such as tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, Academic Coaching and various academic programs and online services. The LSU CAS is internationally recognized for nearly 30 years of work in student learning and metacognition and is one of only two learning centers in the country twice certified by the National College Learning Center Association as a Center of Excellence.

Media Contact: Olivia Landry and Deborah Layzell
Center for Academic Success
225-578-1968
olandr8@lsu.edu and dlayze1@lsu.edu