GUTS has evolved but remains focused on student-to-student tutoring

February 26, 2025 By Taylor Mulcahey

In the fall of 1974, Sellery Hall was full of signs that read, “Want some HASH?” 

It’s not what you think. HASH stood for Help At Sellery Hall, which was the first iteration of a widespread peer tutoring service on UW–Madison’s campus. 

Now, fifty years later, HASH is known by a different name: GUTS (Greater University Tutoring Service).  

Although the name has changed, the mission remains the same: Free tutoring. For students. By students.

A collaboration between staff, students, and volunteers, GUTS served over 400 students last semester with various types of academic assistance. 

“Even though GUTS has changed, the core values remain,” said Caitlin Farrell Haven, Assistant Director of Learning Support who works closely with GUTS. “Students empowering each other to do the work and to learn is still there.”

‘I thought it could be really helpful’

HASH was the brainchild of Harry Webne-Behrman, who was working as a house fellow (now called resident assistant) at Sellery Hall. He had a successful experience with peer tutoring in high school, so he decided to try the same thing with college students.

“I thought it could be really helpful, especially in this hall where you have lots of freshmen trying to adjust to college and a fair number of juniors, seniors and even graduate students who were living in Sellery, had recently taken these courses, and were perfectly capable of offering guidance,” said Harry.

When HASH first started, it reserved space in the Sellery lounge a few nights each week. Students would stop by for drop-in help or to get paired with a volunteer tutor for long-term support. 

By the end of the semester, students were dropping in from surrounding residence halls and the organization grew quickly under Harry’s guidance.

The service soon created a relationship with the Wisconsin Union, where it was eventually housed, and offered support campus-wide.

“We established drop-in lounges at libraries and in other residence halls, and we quickly appealed to students from across the campus,” said Harry. And with the help of a supportive professor in the Curriculum & Instruction department, it even started offering a course so tutors could receive training and earn credit for their work.

‘The bread and butter of GUTS’

Fifty years later, GUTS still offers many of the same programs that Harry helped begin. It’s the organization’s ability to iterate and adapt that Harry considers one of its greatest strengths.

GUTS now operates as a Registered Student Organization (RSO) based in 333 East Campus Mall and offers five main programs to UW–Madison students: Academic Match, Drop-In Tutoring, General Study Skills, Conversational English, and World Language Learners.

“Academic Match is small group tutoring,” said Caitlin. “That’s the bread and butter of GUTS.” 

Last semester, Academic Match offered support for 180 students across 19 courses, including Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Economics. Most students are matched in the first two weeks of classes. GUTS also offers drop-in tutoring in Steenbock and College libraries on Monday and Tuesday evenings. 

Conversational English is a chance to practice English in informal environments, and World Language Learners (WLL) provides small-group settings to practice non-English languages like Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

This year, GUTS has also seen growing interest in their General Study Skills support. In one-on-one appointments, students can discuss organizational skills, time management, exam prep, or any other skills they might need to be successful. This fall, over 65 students attended appointments, and GUTS also hosted study skills workshops for another option.

“I’m always impressed when students show up to do those,” said Caitlin. “It’s often students who already feel overwhelmed and they’re giving up 45 minutes of their life. Kudos to them for seeing the long-term vision. They realize this will help reduce stress in the future.”

Working with partners across campus 

Since the very beginning, GUTS has been a collaboration between staff, students, and volunteers. “It wasn’t a solo thing at all,” said Harry about the early years of the organization. 

Today, GUTS works closely with campus partners like the McBurney Center, Multicultural Student Center, Transfer Engagement Center and individual professors. 

“GUTS really values accessibility,” said Cailtin. “We want to ensure that tutors are in spaces where students feel comfortable, and we’re doing our part to meet the diverse needs of students across campus.”

Each of GUTS’ five programs is overseen by a student coordinator, and there are ten total coordinators on staff. They also have about 70 tutors each semester — split between paid and volunteer, which was a key part of the mission GUTS was founded on. 

“I think that’s what I appreciate so much about GUTS now too,” said Harry. “It’s the interest of students in helping other students. There is just something inherently pleasant about that.”

Even when students are offered paid positions, many still choose to volunteer. 

“Volunteerism is definitely a core tenant of GUTS,” said Caitlin. “It’s cool that we’re still staying true to that.”

‘My favorite job I’ve ever had’

GUTS has received more and more professional support over the years, and its  now supervised by the Office of Academic and Career Success. But students continue to handle most of the daily work and operations.

“They’re coordinating the programs. They’re the ones providing small group and one-on-one tutoring,” said Caitlin. It remains a Registered Student Organization, which is empowering to students.

Abbigail Hickman is a junior studying political science who works as the operations coordinator and a study skills specialist at GUTS. She describes her position as “my favorite job I’ve ever had on campus.”

Abbigail is a first-generation college student who came to UW–Madison from out of state. When she first started, she had to develop her study skills, and now she’s able to meet with other students and help them through the same things she once had to figure out.

“It’s absolutely helpful that — other than Caitlin and our professional staff — we’re all students,” said Abbigail. “We understand what students are looking for and what students need because at some point in our college experience, we’ve been them.”

‘The core values remain’

Campus is a lot different than it was in 1974 when Harry hung “Want some HASH?” signs around Sellery Hall. But the desire of students to help and support one another still remains the same. 

“I think one core motivation was that I believed, and I continue to believe, that people being able to find their voices and be able to express themselves as fully as possible is a really important aspect of education,” said Harry. 

With more than 75 tutors signed up to begin this semester, it’s clear that the vision Harry and his peers had in the early days continues to live on. 

And that’s exactly the legacy Harry hoped his work would leave.

“I love the idea that you and I can talk about this 50 years later,” said Harry. “I can’t think of too many things at this point that would make anybody feel more satisfied with their work.”