Rohin Gilman Awarded Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire Outstanding SI Leader

May 21, 2022

BATON ROUGE – Rohin Gilman, LSU computer science and mathematics senior, received the Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire Outstanding SI Leader award in recognition of his leadership and service to the Supplemental Instruction program.

Gilman dedicated eight semesters to the SI program. SI is a series of weekly study sessions led by a student who has previously excelled in the course. As an SI Leader, he worked with faculty to reinforce course material and help students practice new skills, apply course-related content and interact with classmates. Gilman works as an observation leader, helping new SI Leaders transition into their role.

He said the award was validation of valuable work to the program and his impact on students.

“I’ve made sure that I put a lot of work into it and committed to it fully,” Gilman said. “I didn’t want to do a half-baked job of it. I think that overall, I’ve improved a lot over the last eight semesters, and I’ve gotten very comfortable in that situation. I think I’m pretty good at SI. I guess this was a confirmation of that.”

Matthew Mattox, the Center for Academic Success associate director of academic support, said he thinks of Gilman as an SI technician.

“He’s so precise and intentional with everything he does,” Mattox said. “Over the years, he’s refined his technique and execution of SI principles to an incredible level. As a Peer Mentor he has taken on the role of performing our SI Training Demo, which is conducted for all new staff members. This demonstration provides the blueprint that we use to show all new SI Leaders what we are expecting in each session. He’s become a tremendous part of our program, someone that I truly trust and rely on to set a good example.”

Gilman, a physics SI Leader, thanks the program for teaching him communication skills.

“There’s a really large de-emphasis in the scientific community to make science accessible,” he said. “As an SI Leader, you don’t really have a choice but to try and do that. You don’t know who’s going to be in that room. Being an SI Leader has made it easier for me to communicate the stuff that I do in math or computer science classes.”

Gilman graduated in May 2022. He plans to attend graduate school for mathematics.

Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire served 10 years as director of the Center for Academic Success. During her tenure, CAS became nationally and internationally recognized. The Outstanding SI Leader award honors McGuire's accomplishments at CAS and her impact on LSU’s campus and students.

Gilman received $200 for having key characteristics displayed by McGuire: love of learning and teaching, leadership, service and scholarship.

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