Tutoring

Frequently Asked Questions

You may put in requests for peer tutoring appointments for up to two different courses. The maximum amount of time you can receive tutoring for a class is 50-minutes per week.

Our peer tutoring appointments are small-group appointments that recur weekly at your set appointment time. You will meet with a tutor and up to two additional students who have the same course and the same professor.

Remember that in addition to tutoring, you can seek help from your professor during office hours or a teaching assistant if one is available. You might also consider creating a study group for the course.

Word to the Wise: If you're seeking a peer tutoring appointment, we will need to match your schedule with a tutor's availability and often, with the availability of other students. To maximize your chances of our finding a tutor for you, you will need to leave as much time OPEN in your schedule as possible when you enter your request in Tracktion. (An OPEN box in the schedule means you are available at that time. An X means you are NOT available.)

Tutoring is not homework help. However, the tutor will work with the tutee to ensure that they understand the course materials. The tutee should be prepared to do their assignments independently as a result of attending tutoring. Grades must reflect the tutee’s own work, not the work of a tutor.

Peer tutoring focuses on course content. It is offered by current undergraduate (and sometimes graduate) students who have taken the course you're taking.

Professional tutoring or Academic Coaching focuses on the process of learning. Our professional Academic Coaches, who have completed a bachelor's or master's degree, work with students on academic issues, such as study skills, test preparation, comprehension strategies, test anxiety management, and time management. Many of our Academic Coaches can also work with students on writing for their courses.

We provide peer tutors for many 1000- and 2000-level classes. You may submit a request in Tracktion for appointment-based small-group tutoring.

You must be ENROLLED at SUNY Oneonta in a course to receive tutoring for that course.

Tutoring is not homework help. We want to be sure you understand your course work and can complete that work independently as a result of peer tutoring. The peer tutor, therefore, may not help directly with any assignment, including homework, that will be graded or counted in any way toward the final grade for the tutee’s course.

The tutor will work with the tutee to help them grasp underlying concepts and practice solving similar problems so the tutee can build the knowledge and skills necessary to complete graded assignments on their own. For example, a peer tutor might work with the tutees on a developing a study guide that they can use throughout the semester. Or a tutor might help a tutee integrate information from various sources into their notes to increase the notes' usefulness.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find or hire a peer tutor for everyone who requests one. We encourage everyone who needs assistance to put in a request anyway. If we cannot provide a peer tutor (which happens, for example, with infrequently requested subjects), we can discuss with you other services we can provide, such as Academic Coaching or writing assistance.

There is no drop-in peer tutoring for Fall 2023. All peer tutoring will be provided by small-group, appointment.

Peer tutoring and academic coaching are services provided for enrolled SUNY Oneonta students by Academic Affairs at no additional cost to the students.

Appointment-based tutoring is not designed to handle emergencies. It is designed to be a long-term interaction to help students develop their understanding throughout the duration of the course.

Initial appointments are usually scheduled at least two days in advance so that everyone can be notified.

We hire peer tutors from among the current student body, so your peer tutor will be an undergraduate or graduate student currently taking courses at SUNY Oneonta. In the vast majority of cases, tutors have completed the courses for which they are tutoring at SUNY Oneonta and have received a B+ or better in the course. All tutors complete a three-hour training workshop before working with tutees, and they complete additional training throughout the time they work at SLC. All tutors are working toward completing National Tutoring Association (NTA) basic level certification.

Students aren't permitted to choose specific tutors.

Don't know how to take good notes? Have trouble remembering what you've read? Go blank when you take a test? Don't know how to prepare for a test? Need help with writing? We know how to help!

Our professional Academic Coaches can help you develop skills that will help you in a variety of courses. You can sign up for a study skills tutor by requesting Academic Coaching using the same application form you use for requesting a peer tutor for a class (you can request a coach without requesting appointment-based peer tutoring on that form if you prefer).

We offer credit-bearing study skills courses: PROF 1200, College Learning Strategies; PROF 1120, Study Skills: Resource Management; PROF 1130, Study Skills: Academic Reading Strategies; and PROF 1140 - Study Skills: Test Taking Strategies.

We also offer a series of study skills workshops that provide LEAD credit.

Absolutely! Please note that there is an AOP tutoring program that is different from the SLC peer tutoring program. However, EOP, ACE and CAMP students are still welcome to use the SLC peer tutoring resources in addition to the EOP/ACE services.

If you want an SLC tutor, you will need to sign up for that service using the Tracktion website.

If you want peer tutoring in a 1000- or 2000-level course, you can request an appointment for small-group tutoring, and we will fulfill your request if a tutor is available.

  • To request appointment-based peer tutoring or academic coaching, use Tracktion, our online scheduling service. Use Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, or Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop to access this site -- DO NOT USE A PHONE/TABLET or the Safari browser.
  • Be sure to fill out all the information screens; without all your information, we won't be able to assign you a tutor.
  • The matching process is not automatic. Your request is handled by a live human being. If we're able to provide a tutor for you, we will make the match as soon as we can.
  • Immediately after you complete the signup process in Tracktion, you should receive a confirmation email at the address you provided explaining what will happen next. If you don't receive an email within a few minutes, check your SPAM folder. If it's not there, you should email slc@oneonta.edu.

Use Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, or Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop to access this site -- DO NOT USE A PHONE/TABLET or the Safari browser. Tracktion does not have a mobile app.

Signing in:

Be sure you are the one who is logged into the computer. If you're using someone else's computer that they've logged into already, it will cause problems.

Use your Oneonta login credentials. If you're using a computer off campus, add oneonta\ before your username.

  • Username: oneonta\your SUNY username (i.e. oneonta\jonezz33)
  • Password: your SUNY password

Do not include @oneonta.edu after your username when logging in

If you're going to miss your appointment, you MUST notify your tutor/coach in advance via your Oneonta email account. Twenty-four hours' notice of a cancelation is required. Failure to cancel 24 hours in advance will result in your session being marked a no-show. When you have two no-shows recorded, you will permanently lose your appointment for the semester and will not be permitted to reschedule.

We only offer tutoring during the week. See our current operating hours on the side of the SLC main page (the hours change each semester).

For appointment-based tutoring, students must have an appointment, so tagging along isn’t permitted.

Peer tutoring and academic coaching are scheduled through Study Day (or the last day of classes if no study day is scheduled). If a student needs a tutoring session during the first week of finals, they should discuss this with the tutor or coach to find out if they are available. Peer tutors have finals and academic coaches have grading and writing appointments during finals, so their availability once finals begin is not guaranteed nor is it mandatory.

No new peer tutoring or academic coaching appointments are made after the last day to request a tutor. The last day to request a tutor varies by semester and is announced on our website.

Where is tutoring held?

In-person academic coaching appointments and writing consultations will be held in our 2nd floor Milne Library location. Any online appointments will be held in Microsoft Teams.

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