Face-to-face
Tutoring
The Academic Center provides peer tutors to help you
improve your writing.
We schedule appointments with you to review papers you have written
for a class or you
may submit your paper electronically for tutoring.
Below is a compilation of frequently
asked questions about the Center’s face-to-face tutoring
services.
What are the hours and location of the Academic Center?
The Academic Center’s hours for fall 2008 are
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Victoria |
Sugar Land |
Cinco Ranch |
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Monday |
8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. |
|
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
|
Tuesday |
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
|
Wednesday |
8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. |
|
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
|
Thursday |
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. and
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
|
Friday |
Usually available.* |
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Please note the last day for tutoring for fall 2008
is December 5. All documents submitted for online
tutoring should be submitted by December 2, 5:00 p.m.
* The center conducts tutor training on Fridays at the
beginning of the semester. Generally, Fridays become
available when tutor training is completed for the
semester (after October 20).
The Center is located in room 129 of University West
in Victoria, in room 207 in Sugar Land, and in room 131
in Cinco Ranch.
How do I sign up for an appointment?
To sign up for an appointment, you must first
register in WCOnline, our appointment system. You will
register only one time during the semester, so you’ll
just need to remember the email and password you used
when you sign up.
Registration is easy. Just go to
http://www.rich37.com/uhv/ and choose “Click here”
to register.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to log into the
system using your email address and password. You can
choose the schedule for the location where you want to
be tutored (Victoria, Sugar Land, or Cinco Ranch).
To sign up for an appointment, look through the schedule
and choose an open time (open time slot boxes will be
white) by clicking on the box. Fill in the form that
pops up on your screen. After you save the form (“Save
Reservation”), the time period you wanted to sign up for
should be colored blue, which indicates that it’s your
reservation.
You should always make an appointment to make sure a
tutor is available.
Who are the tutors?
Academic Center tutors are your peers who
- have successfully completed COM 3430 or ENG 3430 with an A
or B, or have demonstrated exceptional writing ability,
or have earned a bachelor’s
degree;
- maintain a high GPA;
- possess good written and oral communication
skills;
- and have been recommended by instructors.
They receive training and must attend continuing meetings/training
sessions during the semester. The Academic Center
Manager and the Academic Center Coordinator review their work.
How can the tutors help me?
Tutors help writers at all levels to improve their skills.
Their primary task is to provide you with an objective reader who will
help you look at your writing more critically and carefully. They may
also make suggestions about alternate choices you can make in writing
your text.
Will the tutors know exactly what my instructor wants?
You are the only one who can really know what your instructor wants
because you are enrolled in the class and have the opportunity to
ask your instructor questions. So, the tutors will expect you to give
them an idea of what your instructor is looking for. The tutors do
have access to many reference manuals and style guides, and they will
offer suggestions on the paper. You, however, make the final decisions
regarding changes to the paper.
Will every tutor provide the same advice?
Different tutors will provide different feedback for several reasons.
First, there is not just one effective way to write a document. Many
different approaches could work. Second, they are giving you alternate
perspectives on your work. Your task is to listen to what they say,
ask questions of them, and evaluate their comments to determine what
changes you want to make in your paper, if any.
Can I request a particular tutor?
We recommend that if you want to request a particular tutor, you
schedule a face-to-face session. Because the tutors tutoring online
may work on Tuesday and then not work again until Thursday, if you
requested a particular tutor, you would have to wait quite some time
for a response. To request a tutor in a face-to-face session, just
look at the appointment schedule available at
http://www.rich37.com/uhv. All tutors' hours for that day are
listed. Make sure the tutor you are requesting is working and sign
up for an appointment during that time.
Should I schedule an appointment for tutoring?
We schedule 30-minute and 1-hour appointments throughout the day. If
you have a paper fewer than ten pages, you should sign up for a
30-minute session. If you have a paper longer than ten pages, we
recommend signing up for a two thirty-minute sessions back to back
(a one hour session). If you plan in advance and schedule
appointments as soon as you know due dates, you will find many
available appointment times. Typically, though, as due dates
approach, appointment slots fill faster.
To allow everyone a chance to get in and to allow you a
chance to adequately review and revise your paper before
you bring it in again, you can schedule 1 appointment
per day (including online tutoring sessions). However,
you are not limited to a certain number of tutorials
during the semester. You may attend as many as you wish.
How many appointments can I schedule?
To allow everyone a chance to get in and to allow you a chance to
adequately review and revise your paper before you bring it in
again, you can schedule 1 appointment per day (including online
tutoring sessions). However, you are not limited to a certain number
of tutorials during the semester. You may attend as many as you
wish.
How do I prepare for my tutorial?
You can prepare for your tutoring
session in several ways: 1) make sure you have an appointment, 2)
make sure you thoroughly understand
your assignment, 3) type a rough draft for easier readability, and
4) make a list of questions you have for the tutor.
What do I do with the tutor's suggestions?
Once you have left a face-to-face
tutorial or received comments via email, consider the tutoring sessions
and the concerns you discussed
and determine what, if any, changes you think you should make. You
may take any or all of the tutor's suggestions, or you may take none.
If you are unsure of a suggestion, you might take your paper to another
tutor for a different perspective, take it to your instructor, or
decide on your own what you want to do.
Will my paper be ready for me to submit to my instructor after a
tutoring session?
In face-to-face or online tutoring sessions, you
assume sole responsibility for the final product. Also, formatting
changes might occur during
the email process and can change the paper's layout. After you've
made your revisions, review your paper before you submit the final
copy to your instructor.
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