Peer Tutors

Tutor Qualifications

• A BRCC peer tutor is a current BRCC student in good academic standing who has successfully completed at least one semester of college work.
• Their cumulative GPA must be a least a 2.5 and their GPA in the specific subject that they wish to tutor must be a 3.0.
• Tutors must submit one favorable faculty recommendation per course, in which they will be tutoring.
• Tutors are generally students with special interests and skills in a particular academic subject. They are patient and conscientious students that are responsible and can be depended upon to work regular hours.
• A brief interview is conducted with qualifying tutors. If hired, the tutor will have a brief tutor training session that consist of videos and some reading material.  Tutors may be asked to attend course-related workshops facilitated by faculty during the semester.
• Tutors are paid an hourly rate by the college.

Tutor Responsibilities

Tutoring is a paying job and your hours of work will be advertised to the student body here at BRCC. You are expected to be on time and to call in advance if you have to miss work. Call the Peer Tutor Coordinator directly at extension 2350. More than two (2) absences a semester may be grounds for review of your employment.

Please do not ask for time off to study for a test of your own. You are expected to anticipate your study needs when setting up your hours of work in the center.

Your major responsibility is to the students you will tutor. You are expected to report to the Tutoring Center at your designated scheduled times.  You are expected to be respectful, patient, and attentive. You are also expected to be aware of students who are waiting their turn to see you and be mindful to limit the time you spend with students accordingly. Twenty (20) to thirty (30) minutes is a reasonable amount of time for a tutoring session, especially if someone is waiting.

You are not expected to do a student’s homework or to proof read a student’s paper. Instead, you can show a student how to do a similar problem or help the student find and correct errors in his own work. You can explain mathematical concepts, use the grammar handbook, and refer students to useful websites.

**You are certainly not expected to know the answer to every question, but you should be willing to try to find an answer for the students from someone else, preferably their instructor.

Tutor Rights

As a tutor, you also have rights.

• You should expect to be treated courteously.
• You have the right to limit the length of a session because tutoring is hard work.
• You have the right to take a 5 minute break after a particularly intense session, even if another student is waiting.
• You have the right to remind students that you can’t do their homework for them.
• You have the right to decline to work with a problem student, after discussing the situation with your supervisor, the Peer Tutor Coordinator.

REMEMBER: You are a valuable asset to the college and we want you to enjoy your work.  Thank you for becoming part of this valuable service to your fellow students.

What About Down Time?

• YES, you are free to do your own work, read, or use a computer when you do not have a student to tutor. However, a certain portion of your down time should be used to familiarize yourself with recommended websites and to look up answers to questions that may have puzzled you.
• You may eat lunch or have a snack during your downtime. And while quiet conversations with friends and other tutors are both permissible and encouraged, please remember that the Learning Assistance Center is a college office and employees are expected to maintain a professional atmosphere.
• The Learning Assistance Center is a quiet area, so please respect this by talking quietly and turning off cell phones or putting them on vibrate.
• Please do not change any of the settings on the center’s computers and do not download personal material.