How to Get A Tutor

The PLTC’s goal is always to provide the most appropriate help to students seeking additional academic support. We offer a range of services and programs available at no additional “out of pocket” cost to students. In exchange for participating in tutoring, we require you to complete a brief evaluation of the service. At the end of the semester we will send you an online evaluation form to help us assess the effectiveness of our tutoring programs.

Even before you request a tutor, the first person you should see if you are having difficulties in a course is your course instructor during his/her office hours.

If you think you need additional support, the PLTC has a variety of tutoring programs including: Help Room (group tutoring for multiple courses within a discipline), Attached Tutoring (tutor office hours for a specific course and section), Supplemental Instruction (group tutoring for a specific course and section) and Assigned (Individual) tutoring.

SI begins the first week of classes. Help Room and Attached Tutoring begin the first Sunday after the first day of classes. You do not need to fill out a request form, make an appointment or sign-up in advance for Help Room, Attached tutoring or SI. These are all open drop-in sessions.

Assigned Tutoring begins the second Sunday after the first day of classes. You do need to fill out a request form, have the form “approved” by the PLTC and schedule your appointments in advance for an Assigned (Individual) tutor.

In order to help the PLTC insure that we are allocating our limited resources appropriately, we do require you to sign in for all tutoring appointments, including Help Room, Attached tutoring, Assigned (Individual) tutoring Supplemental Instruction, Public Speaking tutoring and Academic Success Coaching.

Once you complete and submit the electronic Tutor Request form it is reviewed by the PLTC and you are either assigned to a specific tutor or referred back to one of the other tutoring programs listed above. The determination is made based upon the course, the amount of Help Room, Attached and SI hours available for the course and your individual circumstances. If you are not assigned to an individual tutor, please take advantage of the other resources. If you find that you still need more assistance, or if there is a reason you are not able to attend the Help Room (and/or SI), please ask your professor to send an email to the PLTC Director, rschotka@wellesley.edu explaining your specific situation. We will then “reactivate” your original request and assign you to a tutor. You do not need to submit another request.

To complete the Assigned Tutor Request Form:

1. First, you must inform your instructor that you are requesting a tutor. Please use this time to clarify your specific tutoring needs.
2. Complete this form and click on the submit button at the end of the form.
3. We will assign you to a tutor and send you her contact information. (Name, email address). This usually takes between 1-3 business days.
4. You are responsible for contacting the tutor within two weeks to schedule your first appointment.
5. Tutoring typically takes place once a week for up to an hour. If you need additional tutoring time please contact the PLTC Director rschotka@wellesley.edu, for authorization before making additional weekly appointments with the tutor.
6. Ideally if you want tutoring to continue after three sessions, your tutor will need to contact your course instructor to discuss and plan for additional sessions. Your tutor then needs to contact the PLTC director to let her know of your need for extended tutoring.