Tutoring by Appointment

Tutoring by Appointment provides students with course-specific academic support in a 1:1 or 2:1 setting. Each semester, we tutor over 100 courses where students commonly need support.  

Tutoring by Appointment at the LRC is available in person in the Du Bois Library or virtually via Zoom, with appointment times available throughout the week.  Tutoring appointments can be scheduled up to 5 days in advance using the “Tutoring Appointments” link on the LRC webpage or by speaking with an LRC team member.

• Tutoring appointments are 50 minutes long and offer students an opportunity to engage in deep study with a tutor.
• Focusing on specific course content, tutoring by appointment supports students as they work through questions related to current course topics and formalize knowledge needed to fill learning gaps and clarify misconceptions.
• To make the most of your time in a tutoring appointment, it’s important to bring your classes resources, have an idea (even a very general idea is helpful!) of where you want to get started, and be ready to engage with your tutor!
• Because there are a limited number of tutoring appointments available each day, we ask that you cancel appointments you are unable to make at least two hours before the start of your session.
• You can cancel appointments through Navigate or by speaking with an LRC Team Member!

Drop-in tutoring

Drop-in Tutoring provides students with course-specific academic support in a 1:1 or small group setting. Drop-in Tutoring is available in person on the 10th Floor of the Du Bois Library or virtually via Zoom. Drop-in times are available throughout the week, but students should use this schedule to determine when drop-in tutoring for their course is offered.

• Drop-in tutoring sessions are 30 minutes long and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Drop-in tutoring is most effective when students have specific questions they want to address quickly with their tutor.
• Drop-in tutoring is meant to help get a student moving over a small comprehension hurdle or to move forward with a small learning goal.
• While many students come to drop-in tutoring because of questions about an assignment, tutors are encouraged to help students review concepts related to the assignment and will not complete assignments for the student.
• To opt for a virtual drop-in tutoring session, please call the LRC at 413-545-5334 to be put on our virtual queue.

Study Skills

Study Skills provides students with the opportunity to discuss the organization, retention, and assignment management skills that help set up a strong foundation for academic achievement.

• Study Skills sessions are a part of LRC’s Drop-in Tutoring Services and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• In a Study Skills session, students will work with a Peer Mentor Tutor (our most experienced cohort of tutors) to help the student determine successful learning and study strategies that work for them and set goals to guide success.
• If requested, Study Skills sessions can be expanded into regular check-in meetings by appointment - please contact the LRC to setup regular check in’s - lrc@umass.edu.
• To access Study Skills – please see our Drop-In tutoring schedule (post link).

Tutoring course request

• After looking at our course list of supported courses, if you do not see the course you need, and would like to request we add the course to our list, please fill out the form below.
• If we receive enough requests for the course, we will try our best to add it in the current semester, otherwise, we will add the course for future semesters.
• Tutoring Course Request Form

Quick tutorials

Making a tutoring appointment

You must make an appointment to meet with a 1-on-1 tutor at the LRC. You can use the NAVIGATE system to schedule an appointment up to 5 days in advance. You can make a tutoring appointment online up to 4 hours before the time you’d like to participate in a tutoring appointment. For last minute appointments, to be added to our day of waitlist, and other scheduling questions, please call us at 413-545-5334.

1. Log into NAVIGATE using your NetID and password. The Student Home page appears. Note: This is the same username and password that you use for SPIRE and Moodle.
2. Click the blue Make an Appointment button on the right of the page. The Schedule Tutor Appointment form appears.
3. Fill in the Schedule Tutor Appointment form as follows:
   • What kind of appointment would you like to schedule? “Academic Support”
   • Please tell us why you’d like to see someone. “LRC Tutoring & Learning Support”
   • Choose from the following options and click next. “Course Based Tutoring”
   • What location do your prefer? “Learning Resource Center – Tutoring”
   • Pick a Course… Name of the course you want tutoring in
   • Who would you like to meet with? Optional: name(s) of preferred tutors.
4. In the calendar, click on an available appointment period. A list of available times appears. Note: The available appointment periods are blue.
5. Select an available time from the list. Then, click Next.
6. Review the details of your appointment. Note: Optionally, you can add a message for your tutor in the Comments for your tutor field. You may also set a reminder for yourself using Send Me an Email and Send Me a Text.
7. Click Confirm Appointment. The final confirmation page appears. Your appointment is successfully scheduled.

Cancelling a tutoring appointment

If you cannot attend a tutoring appointment, please cancel your appointment so that someone else can receive help. You must cancel an appointment 4 hours before the appointment start time. Missing too many uncanceled appointments may result in loss of appointment-making privileges.

1. Log into NAVIGATE using your NetID and password. The Student Home page appears. Note: This is the same username and password that you use for SPIRE and Moodle.
2. From the Upcoming Appointments menu on the right, select the appointment you would like to cancel. The Manage Appointment window appears.
3. Click Cancel My Attendance in the bottom left corner of the window. The Cancel My Appointment field appears.
4. In the Reason: field, select the reason that best describes why you are cancelling the appointment.
5. Click Mark as Cancelled. A confirmation page appears.