Paramus—Chalk it up as an instance of tutoring paying off. The National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA) has named the Bergen Community College Cerullo Learning Assistance Center as the best two-year school tutoring resource in the nation.

“In nominating the Cerullo Center, I hoped the judges would recognize what those of us who work at the College know very well: it is an amazing resource staffed by talented and dedicated people who play a major role in the success of our students,” Bill Mullaney, Ph.D., Bergen’s vice president of academic affairs, said. “Winning the award is an external validation of the Cerullo Center’s exemplary service to students and truly places it among the very best learning centers in the country.”

Bergen represents the first New Jersey school—four- or two-year—to earn the Frank L. Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award. Past honorees include Clemson University, Texas A&M, and Dutchess Community College. Khairia Fazal, managing director of learning assistance, will accept the award at the NCLCA’s 29th annual conference beginning Oct. 1 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Cerullo Center hosted more than 40,000 subject-specific and individualized tutoring visits in 240 courses last year. Approximately 7,000 students relied on a team of 150 professional and peer tutors employed by the Cerullo Center to assist them via no-cost, one-on-one, walk-in, and in-class tutoring. The Cerullo Center also offers workshops, conversation groups, and supplemental instruction as part of its multifaceted approach. It counts a math/science walk-in center, writing center, and English language resource center among its resources.

The College centralized its tutoring center under Fazal’s direction in 1994. A donation from Bergen County residents Henry and Edith Cerullo led to a rededication of the student resource in 2003.

Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), based in Paramus, is a public, two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 16,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack, and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate, and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.