TWC Information for Faculty and Staff

https://forms.office.com/r/VXuSD4WiUM 

Although we usually conduct hiring only at the beginning of each semester, this link will remain active, so feel free to recommend a student whenever you think about it and we will contact them when our application opens for the upcoming semester.

Our content tutors and writing consultants are trained in providing responsive feedback and working with students to deepen their understanding of course concepts. Many students often find that talking with a peer when they feel stuck in their classes can be a more low-stakes way of getting the help they need to be more successful. However, whether your students are struggling in your class or excelling, meeting with a peer tutor is a way for them to engage with their education in new, meaningful ways. 

While our one-on-one tutoring is often geared toward students, there are many ways that the TWC can help you work towards your own teaching and professionalization goals.

Specifically, we can:

• Partner on approaches to meet the particular needs of your students, such as coordinating study groups or Q&A sessions with a tutor.  
• Create customized in-class workshops on a range of topics, such as: 
  • Using and citing sources
  • The writing process
  • Effective peer review
  • Working on digital and multimodal projects

We always welcome suggestions or questions about how we can support staff and faculty at Rollins.

The campus-wide transition to EAB Navigate has allowed us to offer you more direct access to undergraduate students' appointment summaries. To see a student's appointment summary at any time, follow these steps: 

1. Log in to Okta, the single sign-on platform used by Rollins.
2. Click on the EAB Navigate tile.
3. Either search for the student by name (upper right-hand corner) or click on their name in your class roster.
4. Once on the student's page, click on the "Reports/Notes" tab. 
5. Scroll down to "Appointment Summaries for (student's name)." You can either see the entire list of appointment summaries for that student or filter results by "Tutoring."
6. Click on "View Report" in the right-hand column for the relevant appointment.

We're so glad you're interested in inviting us to your class! Simply email Layne to get started. We'll work with you directly to design a workshop that complements your course and addresses your students' needs. 

Thank you for helping us get the word out! 

One option is to invite us to your class for a brief (about 10 minutes) introduction to our services. We find that students are more likely to visit us if they meet someone from the TWC face-to-face first. While these visits are particularly beneficial at the beginning of the semester, we're happy to come by any time.

You might also consider adding a statement about the Tutoring and Writing Center to your syllabus or making an announcement about our services on Canvas. If you are unsure what to say about us, feel free to borrow from the following: 

The Tutoring and Writing Center offers one-on-one appointment-based tutoring and writing consulting as well as drop-in hours and study groups. These sessions are run by content tutors and writing consultants who are your fellow Rollins students. TWC services are completely free to use and are designed for all students, whether you feel you are struggling in a particular academic subject, or you simply want to understand your own learning and writing processes better. You can learn more about the TWC here: https://www.rollins.edu/library/twc/  and you can find information about the drop-in schedule and how to schedule an appointment here.

That's great! We really appreciate your trust in us and your willingness to embed our services into your course.  

The earlier you can let us know that this will be a requirement for your class, the better. Our schedule tends to fill up quickly, particularly in the last four weeks of classes. (Please note: our schedule ends on the last day of regularly scheduled classes each semester. We are closed during the week of finals so that our tutors have time to conclude their own coursework.) The sooner we know that your students will be visiting, the more likely it is that we can make sure there is enough availability in the schedule for all of them to get appointments. 

If you are requiring your students meet with a writing consultant, please instruct them to let the consultant know that the session report needs to include the course number (that way you can distinguish the relevant TWC visit from others your student may have had). 

We would also encourage you to take a couple steps to help this required visit be as beneficial as possible for your students:

• Send Layne or Mistie any relevant assignment descriptions, guidelines, or particular goals you have for your students' visits. With this information, we can make sure our tutors are well-prepared to work with your students and that we understand how you want this visit to contribute to your students' learning.
• Share with your students why you are requiring them to visit the TWC. Required tutoring appointments can sometimes be seen by students as punitive. Offering your students some insight into how you anticipate their TWC visit will contribute meaningfully to their learning is one way to mitigate this perception. (You can also invite us to come talk with your students about this before their required visits!)

Adding a peer tutor to your course on Canvas is a great way to make sure they can access your syllabi, assignment descriptions, and relevant announcements. These materials help them stay in the know as they work with your students. If you would like to add the peer tutor(s) for your course to your Canvas, follow these steps: 

1. If you do not know the names of the tutors for your course, Layne or Mistie are happy to provide them.
2. Log in to Canvas. 
3. Click on the relevant course. 
4. In the left-hand menu, click on "People." 
5. In the upper right corner of the page click on the green "+ People" button. 
6. In the box that pops up, search for the peer tutor by email address or login ID. 
7. Be sure to select "Observer" as their role from the drop-down menu. This will allow them access to announcements, the syllabus, assignments, etc. but NOT the class roster or grades. 
8. Click "Next" in the lower right corner. 
9. You should get a message that says: "The following users are ready to be added to the course." 
10. To finalize the addition of the tutor(s), click "Add Users" in the bottom right corner.

This is a good question. The short answer is that the TWC is not a homework check or editing service, which means that our tutors' job is not to perfect the product that your student plans to turn in, but rather to serve as a resource and collaborator in their learning process. 

However, we know it is frustrating when it seems that tutoring sessions are not leading to the desired results. We also know that sometimes this gap is indicative of larger issues. In general, there are a couple common reasons why a student who visited the TWC isn't showing the improvement you envisioned: the tutor and student may not have had sufficient time to address every issue, there may have been miscommunications or misunderstandings between the tutor and student, or the student's goals for their time in tutoring may not align with your own. Whatever the case, we welcome the opportunity to discuss these gaps with you, and to work together on meeting the needs of your students. Please reach out to Layne with your feedback. 

We know that several departments on campus have specific requirements and expectations for research papers and other writing assignments. We are committed to supporting your departmental guidelines and working with our tutors and consultants to make sure they know that these guidelines exist and where to find them. If you find that a student receives feedback from a tutor or consultant that contradicts the guidelines set by your department, please let us know.