We train all of our tutors at once so that we are efficient with our
time and energy in this process as well as providing an opportunity
for tutors to hear each others thoughts and observations. We have an
idea of how many tutors we need in each subject and encourage faculty
to talk to us if they have a particular request for the semester. We
let faculty know our deadlines and they are very respectful and
responsive to our process.
We offer tutoring in predominantly lower division courses (some
selected upper division) with the intent that departments who offer
tutoring, will provide services for these upper division courses.
While a number of students who come in to use our services are A and B
level students, our outreach is also targeted on C, D, and F over-all
performing students. In my experience, these students respond more
positively to individual invitations initiated by either a faculty
member, staff member, peer, or our program staff. While we do
advertise on campus with fliers and class announcements/faculty
contacts for the general student population, we are very aware that
the students who would benefit from our services because of their poor
academic performance (and who are an important focus for us) are as a
whole, a bit more hesistant to ask for assistance... from anyone.
BTW: We have @24,000 students, a very diverse student population, a
state-funded campus, and are located in Silicon Valley.
Having said that, we work with other programs on campus (TRIO, Foster
Youth, Probation, Advising, etc.) to cast a net and bring in these
students, even if it is one student at a time.
Lastly, our best advertisement is students telling students about how
they benefited from our services.
Hope this is helpful,
Karin
On 4/13/12, Shawn O'Neil <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello Alsace,
>
> To answer your questions, we provide tutoring in most 100-200 level courses
> for 27 different disciplines (maths, most sciences, foreign language,
> nursing... no History, no English or Literature, etc-- we refer those to
> our Study Skills program or the University Writing Center).
>
> We accept requests for service starting during advising for the previous
> semester all the way up until the deadline to withdraw for classes without
> penalty (which is usually just after mid-terms). We start placing students
> with tutors for recurring weekly appointments starting the second week of
> class, and can usually place most students within 48 hours to one week. The
> other maybe 10%, we either need to recruit and hire a new tutor, or we need
> to work with our existing staff to find creative appointment times.
>
> Students who want tutoring assistance after our deadline are declined for
> content tutoring, but can sign up to meet with a study skills specialist
> any time prior to exams. We publish our tutoring request deadline in our
> labs, in the hallways of our building, on the University calendar, and we
> mention it in emails we send to tutors and students-- so students can't say
> we didn't let them know in advance.
>
> The reason we do this is because:
> 1. As you stated, it can take a week or two (or more) to find, hire, and
> train a tutor on our policies. If we have to do that past midterms, the
> student is only going to get maybe two weeks of tutoring before finals (and
> since students using our services don't start to demonstrate improvement
> until the third week, these students would effectively be outside of our
> cohort analysis).
> 2. Students who don't know by midterms that they need help are going to be
> drowning and frustrated when finals are looming. This makes them very
> difficult to tutor, and really irritates our tutoring staff
> 3. Most of our tutors are students, and they typically can't take on any
> additional times late in the semester due to having to prepare for their
> own exams.
> 4. We don't want to encourage cramming or last ditch efforts. Instead, we
> promote our services as "request a tutor when you register for the class!
> If you don't need it, you can drop it at any time. If you wait to sign up,
> you might not get one when you need it."
>
> Every semester, we have a small number of students who aren't happy with
> our deadline and want to fuss because they have "legitimate need for
> assistance", but typically, since we have the same policy across the board,
> they usually come to understand, especially if we can refer them to other
> services on campus. This year we made an exception to the deadline for a
> student who was returning to classes after a month off in the middle (due
> to extreme medical problems). The Dean of Students advocated on the
> student's behalf and we allowed him to get a tutor after the deadline. But
> that is extremely rare.
>
> I find the key is to be proactive with advertising your services,
> especially during advising and with your college's advising staff; and to
> advertise the deadline and some of the reasons (we publicize reasons 1, 3,
> and 4, above) in as many places as you can.
>
> Hope this helps! Let me know if you want more info.
>
> -Shawn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Open Forum for Learning Assistance Professionals [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alsace Toure
> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 4:25 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Question about Tutoring Policies and Procedures
>
> Good afternoon.
>
> Do any of you have a policy regarding courses that you do or do not provide
> tutoring? And also do you have an end date that students can request a
> tutor for a subject you do not have a tutor? We have a student that has
> come with less than one week left, and it takes about two weeks to hire and
> train a tutor. Any information you can provide regarding your policies
> would be helpful.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Alsace Touré, Director
> The Learning Center & Disability Services Baldwin-Wallace College Room 207,
> Ritter Library
> 275 Eastland Road
> Berea, OH 44017-2088
> Direct: 440.826.5936
> Office: 440.826.2147
> Fax: 440.826.3832
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> --
> Shawn O'Neil
> Coordinator for Tutoring Services
> Learning Assistance Center - UNCG
> McIver Building, Room 109
> (336) 334 3878
> @LACUNCG <http://twitter.com/LACUNCG>
>
> "Do Something Bigger Altogether" #dsba
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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> browser to
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>
> To contact the LRNASST-L owner, email [log in to unmask]
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--
Karin E. Winnard, Tutorial Coordinator
Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC)
San José State University
San José, CA 95192
Certification Reviewer, NCLCA
Evaluator, International Tutor Certification Program/CRLA 1988-2008
Past President, ACCTLA (1990-93)
(408) 924-3346
*We teach skills. We tutor content.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To access the LRNASST-L archives or User Guide, or to change your
subscription options (including subscribe/unsubscribe), point your web browser to
http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html
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