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Students- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
About
the Tutoring:
About the Tutors:
Signing Up:
Location/Hours:
Policies:
About the Tutoring
How does tutoring work? What is minimalist tutoring?
Students receive individualized and directed assistance to develop their reading and writing skills. The primary goal of the center is to move students towards independence in these skills. The tutor will help you learn to read closely, develop critical readings, revise your drafts, and correct your errors on your own. The tutor will not do the work for you, correct your paper, act as a proofreader or style-checker, and will not explain the readings to you. Rather the tutor will work with you on your own paper to help you learn how to revise, complicate, and develop your own readings of texts. The tutor will also work with you to develop the skills necessary to determine and correct your own patterns of error.
This approach to tutoring is minimalist in that it seeks to minimize your dependence upon the Writing tutor. The tutor's job is to assist you in identifying problem areas with your writing, to provide you with a concrete plan for working on those areas, to allow you the time to begin doing that work yourself, and to provide you with guidance when you get stuck.
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Is tutoring just for students who are failing their Writing courses?
No. While tutoring can make the difference between failing and passing for some students, any student in any Writing Program course can benefit from tutoring. Because you meet one-on-one with a tutor, and because the tutor is in contact with your teacher, sessions focus on your individual writing skills. Certainly students who are in danger of failing should sign up for tutoring, but you might also want to register if you are generally a B student and you want to figure out how to write papers that will earn A's. We're confident that every student who comes to a Writing Center and takes tutoring seriously becomes a better writer.
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Will
tutoring really help me earn higher grades?
Attendance at the Writing Centers does not assure
improvement. In conjunction with regular completion
of coursework, however, tutoring is an effective
way to address the challenges of college-level
expository writing. Students who sign up for tutoring
early in the semester also tend to improve more
than those who wait until the last minute.
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How long will tutoring last?
You will meet with your tutor once a week for an 80 minute session for five consecutive weeks.
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What
should I bring with me to my tutoring sessions?
BRING ALL CLASS MATERIALS AT ALL TIMES, including
the textbook, your notes, all of your first and
final drafts, and any other relevant materials.
Students who bring nothing to a tutoring session
are liable to be marked absent. You may think
you have nothing left to do, but you can always
improve your writing.
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Is there drop-in tutoring?
No. The Writing Centers do not provide drop-in tutoring: in order to insure that you receive sustained assistance learning how to identify and correct the problems with your own writing, all Writing Centers require students to sign up for five tutoring sessions.
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About the Tutors
Who are the tutors?
The tutors are a mix of advanced undergraduate students who are highly skilled writers, graduate students who are highly skilled writers and/or Teaching Assistants from the Writing Program, and Instructors and Part-Time Lecturers from the Writing Program. All have received intensive training that prepares them to implement the Writing Program's minimalist approach to tutoring.
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Will I receive one-on-one tutoring in the Writing Centers?
Yes. Each tutor is assigned two students per session but the tutor will alternate between students so each student gets personal attention.
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Do I meet with the same tutor every week?
Yes.
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Signing Up
When can I sign up? What do I need to sign up?
The centers will begin to accept requests for tutoring during the third week of the semester. Students must come to the center of their choice to sign up for tutoring; we do not accept applications over the phone or through electronic mail. When you come to a center to sign up, you must bring a copy of your period-by-period schedule of classes, work, and free time, because tutors are assigned by class period. You will also need to provide the name of your teacher, the number and section of your class (i.e., 100:05, 101:DH), your home and campus addresses and phone numbers, and your e-mail address.
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Can I sign up for more than one set of five tutoring sessions?
If you have attended all of your sessions, at
the end of your first five weeks of tutoring,
you will have the opportunity to renew. You can
continue meeting with the same tutor at the same
time until the Center closes at the end of the
semester.
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Location and Hours
Where
is the Writing Center located?
The Douglass/Cook Writing Center is on the Douglass
Campus. Main office located in Room 101, and
can be reached at 932-8856. The Directors' office
is on the second floor in room 204.
The Director of the Writing Program is Karen Kalteissen and her email address is karen.kalteissen@rutgers.edu.
She may also be reached by dialing 732-932-9212.
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When
is tutoring available?
Tutoring is available Monday
through Friday 1st period (9:15 - 10:35)
through 6th period (5:35 - 6:55). On Friday, there is no sixth period tutoring.
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Is
tutoring free?
Yes.
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Policies
Do
I get credit for coming to tutoring?
During the Fall and Spring semesters, you get
1.5 E credits for tutoring. These credits are
empty credits. This means they do not count towards
graduation or get factored into your GPA. They
do get counted within the number of credits you
are carrying for the semester, however, and can
thus assist you in maintaining full-time status.
For example, if you are registered for 12 credits
and you sign-up for the Writing Center, you will
be carrying 13.5 credits. These E credits will
also appear on your transcript (as 355:096) and
will be graded pass/fail based on your attendance
at tutoring.
University College students and part-time students
do not receive E credits for the Writing Center
unless they wish to pay for them. In this case,
the student must inform the center of this wish
at the time of signup.
There are no E credits during summer tutoring.
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What
is the attendance policy?
You are expected to meet all of your scheduled
appointments. You are allowed to miss 1 out of
5 sessions. If you miss more than 1 session, you
will be dropped from the tutoring schedule and
receive an F in the Writing Center course (355:096)
on your transcript.
If you sign up later in the semester (or renew
later in the semester) for four or fewer sessions,
you are not allowed any absences. If you are absent
you will be dropped from the tutoring schedule
and receive an F in the Writing Center course
(355:096) on your transcript.
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What
should I do if I have to miss a scheduled tutoring
session?
There are no excused absences. If you are going
to be absent, however, you should call the Writing
Center as a courtesy so that your tutor can be
informed. (Tutors are not paid when appointments
are missed.)
If you are going to miss a session, please contact
the Writing Center at 732-932-8856.
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Can
I come to tutoring even if I am not in a Writing
class?
Our services are primarily for students in Writing
Program courses. Students in other courses at
Rutgers can attend tutoring at the discretion
of the directors of the individual Writing Centers.
If you are in a non-Writing Program course and
you wish to attend Writing Program tutoring, you
must have writing to work on consistently for
five weeks.
If you are not enrolled in a Writing Program
course, you may get help with your writing at
the Learning Resource Center on your campus. To
find out more about the LRCs, please go to their
homepage.
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Will my teacher know I'm coming to tutoring?
Yes. Your teacher is notified when you sign up and the tutor and your teacher also exchange notes every 3 sessions, assessing your progress and discussing additional areas where your writing might improve. Your teacher will also be informed if you miss a tutoring session.
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