MEDICAL CAMPUS — Following a mistaken mass e-mail to the entire alumni network and current students, Peer to Peer Tutoring announced that the entire Georgetown network is now registered as tutors.
Following the registration of Jack O’Donnell (SFS ’86), Peer to Peer tutoring, which offers academic assistance to Medical School students, now has well over 100,000 tutors for the upcoming semester and now includes every past and present Hoya.
Peer to Peer tutoring surprised insiders and experts alike with its high returns on an email blast.
“Normally when an email blast is sent out, you’re looking at a return ratio of about 1.3%,” said industry analyst Peter Cobart. “Generally you rarely see a full 100% return ratio like we just did. It could possibly be attributed to their hyper-targeted demographic selection of just straight up everyone.”
Within minutes the email thread was inundated with recipients’ responses, many of whom were so excited by the opportunity they hit “reply all.”
“Hello, I don’t believe this email was meant to be sent to me. I graduated in 2005 and live in California, but is there anyway you can send me registration details and permanently put me on this mailing list,” read one such typical response to the thread.
“I figured this was a good way to get more involved on campus,” said Mary Gorden (COL ’77) who lives in Atlanta with her three kids and never went to medical school. “If I don’t like it, I obviously don’t have to stick with it.”
Gorden’s interest was far from unique. Within minutes hundreds of Hoyas living abroad had posted notices about apartments and houses for sale.
“Hello, I am offering my studio apartment in Paris’ 3rd district for a very reasonable price. Everything must go. I have to get back to Georgetown to join Peer to Peer tutoring” was just one example of the unique interest generated by this mass mistake e-mail. Reports of Hoya alums ditching their State Department jobs and International Finance positions to volunteer as a part time medical school tutor are now commonplace.
Although not all Georgetown alumni are currently living, descendants and relatives monitoring the Hoya Mail accounts of those passed also expressed a desire to join as well.
Peer to Peer Tutoring offered thanks to all of the students and alumni who showed such dedication to their school.
Reached by phone, Media Relations and Chief E-Mailer Arthur Sendbad spoke of the group’s “solemn appreciation” for the amount of responses, all positive, which they have received.
Sendbad says he currently is not sure how he will deal with the roughly 8,000% increase in volunteers, but said “something is in the works.”
“Normally we get about fifteen to twenty tutors for the fall semester,” said Peer to Peer Tutoring Vice Chair Ariana Goblert. “So this is different.”
Peer to Peer tutoring traditionally serves roughly three hundred different students throughout the year and, for the first time in group history, the number of tutors surpassed the number of medical school students.
“In order to make sure all tutors have a chance to participate, we are most likely going to a system where a group of tutors will work with one student. At this point the ratio will likely be about 70 tutors for each medical school student who would like assistance,” said Peer to Peer Tutoring’s Logistics Coordinator Peter Tohard.
The group’s internal hierarchy also will be noticeably different.
“We normally pair one board member up with about three or four tutors to make sure they are doing okay and offering proper assistance,” said Goblert. “Now that the ratio is about 25,000 tutors to one board member, obviously the amount of one on one time is going to have to be addressed.”
For all the new challenges the group will face this year with such a dramatic increase in participation, Peer to Peer Tutoring President Issac Cumbersome stressed an optimistic tone.
“Look obviously we will have a lot of issues to think about. What about tutors that haven’t been to medical school? What about tutors who had to abandon their family to be here? What about tutors with Alzheimer’s? But at the end of the day, this is a big, big success for us and I am glad we e-mailed everyone.”