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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 2009 are

 

 

Victoria

Sugar Land

Cinco Ranch

Monday

9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

To be determined

Tuesday

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

To be determined

Wednesday

10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

 To be determined

Thursday

1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

To be determined

Friday

8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.*

12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.*

To be determined

Saturday   12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  

 

Please note the last day for tutoring for fall 2009 is December 4.

 

All documents submitted for online tutoring should be submitted by December 2, 2009, 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 (the beginning of October).
 

The Center is located in Suite 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.