AS a way of boosting the scholastic performance of students, one hall of residence at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona inked a deal with GetAced Academic Services.

Accommodating a total of 2,000 students from almost 15 different countries, Elsa Leo-Rhynie (ELR) ”Towers” Hall decided to start the partnership with the company after realising the challenges faced during online learning spawned by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Students will be assisted with writing through virtual consultations, proofreading and editing and receive interview coaching from the company.

The partnership started on September 6 and is expected to continue until the end of the school year.

“The initial thought was seeing that students battle with writing courses on a yearly basis and after leaving university they struggle with preparing their résumés, we thought it best to partner with a company that assists students with these things — giving them consultations and actually helping them to build their résumé for the future,” said Phillip Porter, hall chairman at Towers.

Porter said he is looking forward to more students achieving better grades, especially since the company provides quality service.

“I looking for more of my peers and others who are graduating to achieve jobs with those résumés that GetAced would’ve helped them with,” he said, noting that he hopes the partnership will continue after his tenure.

CEO at GetAced, Velonique Bowen, was equally optimistic about the partnership.

“The hope is to assist Towers students in attaining their best grades possible and meeting their true academic potential. I’ve had consults with students who have told themselves from as long as they can remember that ‘me cyaan write essay. Me prefer maths’. By getting them to dismiss this notion, and to be open to coaching and practising, we have had those very students write A papers,” she said.

“So I am taking that same approach with Towers and I am hoping that this will not only result in better individual grades and a better GPA (grade point average) for the hall, but that it will also aid in much personal and academic development,” Bowen said, noting that the partnership was well needed to bridge the gap between the old and new normal of learning.

Bowen, who had just completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Cultural Studies with honours at UWI, launched the company in March last year during the onset of the pandemic.

Now, with the company already in a partnership as it approaches its second anniversary, Bowen said the opportunity seems unbelievable.

“To know that GetAced was started in my bedroom in Old Harbour, out of the fear and frustration that ‘Jamaica hard’, and is now being recognised by a place like ELR Towers, is surreal. It reminds me that with a goal and a plan, all is possible. I get up every day and I host consultations with clients, I assist in providing speech training and interview coaching, and I am genuinely in disbelief that I’m actually doing it,” she explained.

Noting that the company is now forced to become more versed in its knowledge and expertise and what it offers, Bowen said, “I have taken the step to invest in online courses and training in a number of areas for myself and my employees, so we may be better able to achieve our goal. Another way is the mere idea of marketing and promotion for what we are and what we stand for. Through this partnership we have gained over 25 clients, and others who are not even associated with the university. So it is definitely also helping in brand awareness.”

Bowen hopes to start partnerships with more halls at The UWI and other universities worldwide.