Parkside Academic Resource Center: Policies & FAQ's

It's a PARC rule that all appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance of the appointment start time. This gives our "by appointment only" tutors enough time to check their emails and plan to be in the center on time and prepared for you.

Need to cancel an appointment due to an unforeseen circumstance? Make sure to cancel as soon as possible. If you are able to cancel more than 2 hours in advance, your record will show up as a cancellation and won't effect your good standing in the PARC. However, the No Show rule still applies for appointments made and cancelled online. If you fail to cancel your appointment or if you cancel a scheduled appointment fewer than 120 minutes before the appointment start time, the cancellation will be recorded as a "no show." If you earn 3 no shows in a semester, you will be banned from PARC's traditional on-campus services (Math Center, Writing Center, Tutoring Center, Chem drop-in, and A&P lab) through the end of that semester.

Appointments can only be made for the Writing Center (with writing tutors) and Tutoring Center (with general subject tutors). Appointments are one hour each and start on the hour (not half hour); therefore, the earliest appointment slot of any day is 9:00AM-10:00AM. If you are visiting to fulfill a class requirement or extra credit opportunity, your appointment must last a minimum of 20 minutes to receive credit for attending, and you are expected to come prepared with assignment sheet[s] and relevant work/handouts from your course.

Bring any materials that will help you and your tutor understand and discuss where you are in your studies and your assignments. This may include the class book[s] and text[s], assignment sheet, a hard copy of what you've attempted so far, and possibly a digital copy of what you've attempted so far (on a laptop computer, a tablet, a flash drive). It's also good to bring scratch paper and writing utensils to every appointment, for potential use in brainstorming activities or quiz practices.

To accommodate the huge volume of traffic the Math Center receives on a weekly and daily basis, math tutors have standard hours each day/week, so that we can reach as many students as possible. Since there is always a math tutor on duty, and since many math consultations only take a few minutes at a time, with intermittent periods of independent work on the tutee's part, the drop-in system is the best fit.

Drop-ins are welcome in the Writing Center, but appointments are preferred. This is so you can make sure that someone is available to work with you. If you don't have an appointment, and are only dropping in, you will be seen on a first come basis after tutors are finished with appointment obligations.

The centers in Wyllie D180 have a 2 Appointment Per Week Per Center rule. This means, you can schedule up to 2 appointments in the Writing Center AND up to 2 appointments in the Tutoring Center per week that we are open (weeks 2 through 14 of each fall and spring semester). That's a total of 52 possible appointments per semester!

Attending SI does not count as an "appointment," although like all PARC services, you will be expected to sign in. Supplemental Instruction sessions are not housed in a center and can and should be utilized in addition to the centers in Wyllie D180.

SI sessions start during week 3 of the semester. Once we have all sessions scheduled and rooms requested for these sessions, your SI Leader will contact you about the session times. However, you are encouraged to ask your SI Leader and/or course instructor directly as well. An updated list of SI courses and SI Leaders can be found on this website.

Back-to-back appointments with the same tutor are prohibited. Back-to-back appointments in the Writing Center are prohibited. The only kind of back-to-back appointments that are allowed are when you schedule a writing or GSUB tutor for the first hour and then switch centers and tutors for the second hour. However, even this is not recommended. We prefer that all students schedule only one appointment per day as a courtesy to others.

The PARC has expanded to different location on campus sanctioned for PARC services so that tutors and tutees don't need to go anywhere else. If an academic department or a specific course would like the PARC to set up an additional lab or location, the interested party should contact the PARC Director.

Short answer: No. Long answer: While this isn't a frequently asked question, we would like to set the record straight. PARC staff and tutors are never responsible for your grade on an assignment or in a course. Tutors are here to help you find resources and help you use the resources you have. Our goal is to support your learning by increasing your confidence and your strategies for studying and applying the skills and methods that your professor's instruction teaches.

• Review and explain assignments.
• Review course outlines and objectives (syllabi).
• Clarify information presented by the instructor.
• Help you identify and understand major topics.
• Help you understand the textbook and how to use it.
• Help you develop learning strategies to use in your classes. 

• Work math problems for you or do your homework.
• Teach material you have not read or heard in class.
• Write speeches or term papers. 

• Attend all classes.
• Keep reading the assigned articles/textbook readings.
• Attempt to complete assignments/homework.
• Write down questions you want to ask a tutor.
• Remember to visit professor office hours for further help.