Student Learning Center Faculty Resources

SLC provides a wide range of tutoring services to students. Ideally, students sign up for our services on their own by going to our online scheduling service, Tracktion.

Our interactions with students are kept private. We do not report back to faculty on a student's progress or attendance at SLC.

What types of tutoring are available?

• When a student has trouble in a specific 100- or 200-level course, they can request a small-group peer tutoring appointment.
• If a student is concerned about study skills (time management, test taking skills, test anxiety, etc.) or reading, they can request an academic coach.
• Students who need help brushing up on basic math skills can request an academic coach (if one is available).
• If a student wants help with a writing assignment (essay, research paper, report, etc.), they can sign up for writing consultation with a professional writing specialist in the Writing Center.
• Students can also request longer-term writing tutoring appointments with a professional tutor in the Writing Center.

We can help students with writing

If you are teaching a course that requires essays from your students, please let your students know that SLC’s Writing Center services are available. Our goal is to help students with writing processes with the goal of improving the overall development of the writing.

If there are specific students who you think would benefit from our instruction, please recommend that they request an appointment to meet with an Academic Coach for writing in Tracktion.

While your encouragement to the student to seek assistance at SLC is usually very helpful, please do not require students to come to the Writing Center. Their investment in their work with us is important for them to achieve success. Forcing the issue does not tend to aid in development of such investment.

We can help students with reading and study skills

Please let your students know that we have both peer and professional tutors. Our free peer tutoring program can assist students with comprehending course content. Our academic coaches, on the other hand, can help them with study and reading strategies.

Pending Grades

The grade “PEN” indicates that the course work has been satisfactory but there is some persistent inadequacy in writing or reading. Instructors should refer a student to the Student Learning Center's Writing Center as soon as a problem is discovered and not wait to assign a “PEN” grade at the end of the term.

The “PEN” grade may be used when an instructor discovers a specific skill deficiency (writing or reading) in a student’s work, but not in place of an “E” or “I” grade. Students who receive a
“PEN” grade are required to start remediation during the next semester in residence. Pending grades may not be assigned in non-credit courses. When a “PEN” grade is given in a course, the deadline for completion of the course is identical to that given for an Incomplete, i.e., during the semester following that in which the “PEN” was assigned. For “PEN” grades assigned in the fall, the deadline is the last week in April. For “PEN” grades assigned in the spring or summer, the deadline is the last week in November. Failure to complete “PEN” grades will result in a failing grade for the course. With the student’s consent, an instructor may extend the “PEN” grade whenever there is an educational advantage in doing so. This may be accomplished by submitting an Extension of Incomplete form with the Registrar, prior to the incomplete/pending deadline.

Instructors assigning “PEN” grades on grade sheets must complete and attach a “Student Notification of Pending Grade” form, providing a brief but clear written statement of the exact skill to be mastered in order to pass the course. The Registrar will send a copy of this form to the student and to the SLC.

Note: Pending Grades are not assigned at the graduate level.

What we can't do

We don’t do simple proofreading or editing. We offer instruction on writing processes, not last-minute grammar checking. We’ll gladly teach a student how to edit his or her own work, but our emphasis in conferences is usually on helping the student respond to an assignment, develop and organize your ideas, and write clearly.

SLC's Writing Center can help a student with work for almost any class, as well as with short, expository pieces of writing oriented toward the student's career (such as a resume, a cover letter, or a graduate school application essay).

Effective October 18, 2022, the SLC will identify potential tutors by grades earned in previous semesters. Those who have earned an A/A- in the course in a previous semester will be contacted to apply when we need a tutor for the course. We trust that the grade of A/A- indicates that the student has attained the appropriate content knowledge to work with their peers in the course to assist them in understanding course content.

If a student earned a B+ in the course, they may be considered for the position if they obtain a recommendation from the instructor. No student may tutor a course in which they earned less than a B+. If a student tutors multiple courses offered by a single academic department and earned a B+ in any of the courses, they will need one recommendation from one of their instructors from that department. When recommendations are required, we only require one recommendation per academic department.

Students may come directly to professors to seek their recommendation. Please only write a recommendation if the students is in the process of being interviewed. Students are able to apply to be a tutor without having been asked to apply. In that case, to save the labor of the faculty recommenders, we ask that the applicants not request recommendations until they have been scheduled to come to an interview or have completed their interview.

A brief EMAIL from your Oneonta.edu email account to Amy.Crouse-Powers@oneonta.edu is sufficient for a recommendation. A formal letter/letterhead is not necessary.