The Center provides tutoring to currently enrolled BCCC students in their course work or for scholarship or application essays.
The Center provides peer mentoring to currently enrolled and newly accepted students. Mentoring is allowed in-between sessions if the student is returning the following semester or session.
The Center cannot help with take-home tests or quizzes, the writing of in-class essays, midterms, finals, or extra credit (unless pre-approved by the instructor and the Center). Tutors can work on similar problems, discuss the reading and assignment for in-class essays, and discuss similar concepts to help students prepare for these assignments or tests.
The Center cannot help with any work that is not assigned course work, such as résumés, cover letters, etc, and does not tutor for placement or standardized tests, such as the LPN, SAT, GRE, etc.
The Center must adhere to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. Therefore, information cannot be shared with parents unless authorized paperwork is provided, and students should schedule their own appointments.
The Center’s Cheating and Plagiarism policy is as follows: The employees and clients of the Tutoring Center are expected to fully understand and follow the Bucks County Community College Policy Regarding Cheating and Plagiarism. If a student refuses to revise his or her work and behaviors, the tutor may refuse to continue the session after stressing the importance of academic honesty. The Center does not report any incidents of plagiarism, unless deemed excessive and approved by the Dean, to instructors or officers of the college due to a student’s right to confidentiality.
Students must monitor their personal items at all times. Any items left unattended in the Center are not the Center’s responsibility.
Cell phone use is prohibited in the Center. Students and staff should silence phones while in the Center.
Center Policies
General Policies & Procedures
Appointment Rules
Appointments may be scheduled up to two weeks in advance. Permanent appointments are available with writing tutors in the Newtown Center during the fall and spring semesters. These may be requested through the Assistant Director (Writing).
Appointments are 45 minutes in length.
For many subjects, a student may have two appointments in one day based upon tutor availability. Please refer to subject-specific handouts for the current semester policies. To schedule a second appointment, contact the Newtown Center.
-Second appointments must occur at least 30 minutes from the end of the previous session. For example, if your first appointment is from 10:00am – 10:45am, a second appointment can be scheduled for 11:30am – 12:15pm.
-Online writing help counts as one appointment – the appointment is credited for the day the student receives the response. If students submit an essay by 12:00pm on a business day, they will receive a response by 4:00pm the next business day.
-Ask a Tutor forms do not count for appointments. Writing tutors can tutor writing, reading, study skills, and AESL for any course. If you’d like to work on these skills, select “Writing, Reading, and Study Skills” as the visit reason when making an appointment for these courses. You may only schedule one appointment per day with the AESL specialists due to their limited availability; however, you can request a second appointment with a writing tutor.
Drop-in Policies
For drop-in subjects, students may work in the Center as long as needed during business hours and are permitted to have multiple visits with the tutors. However, each session lasts up to 30 minutes with a minimum of 20 minutes in-between sessions for the student to work independently and apply concepts reviewed with the tutor.
Review the subject-specific pages to find the specific hours each subject will be available.
For tutoring at Newtown, please take a red number tent when you first sign in. This ensures that those who have not yet been helped are helped first. Then flip the green flag to alert the tutor when you need additional help. Sessions with a Success Advocate last up to 30 minutes. Depending upon availability, students may be able to ask quicker questions after the session has ended.
What to Bring With You for a Session
Please bring your Student I.D. and sign in and out for your session using your student number on the card. If your Student I.D. does not include a picture, please bring a photo I.D. if you’d like to check out equipment or books.
Consider your goal for the session and come prepared with questions and all the necessary materials – especially the assignment description.
The tutor will actively engage you in the session by asking you questions about your material, so please be prepared for a collaborative session.
Bring your assignment description and any necessary course materials for the assignment (i.e. your textbook, class notes, or any additional readings).
Bring any work you have done so far on the assignment. This work is required to aid tutors in identifying areas with which you might be struggling. Students working in textbook publisher sites (i.e. My Math Lab) should print out the problems, bring a laptop, or check one out in the Center.
Attend classes and bring class notes to share with the tutor. If a class is missed, get notes from a fellow student in the class or take notes during your own reading of the text. Please note that tutoring does not replace attending class, and tutors are not permitted to teach or present new material.
Underline specific terms you are unsure about in the textbook or in your notes. For math, accounting, or other courses with problems, mark the specific steps that confuse you in any example problems. These reminders will help the tutor gain a better understanding of how to help you.
How to Make the Most of Your Session
Be conscious of the Academic Success Center’s hours and plan your arrival accordingly. Give yourself time to ask the questions you have prepared.
Schedule your appointments early. This will allow more time for you to make any necessary revisions before the assignment is due.
The Academic Success Center can help you with any stage of the writing process. You can come in for help with brainstorming, outlining, revising, and more!
While we cannot help with any specific in-class writing assignments, we can review any concept, rhetorical mode, and/or grammar rule with which you may be struggling.
Share with your tutor any preferred way of learning (i.e. visual, auditory, etc.) that you may have.
For real-time online sessions, it may be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the software before your actual session. Review the information on the website or set up a time to practice with a tutor.
For face-to-face sessions, feel free to remain in the Academic Success Center after your appointment to do your homework and/or utilize any of our resources. Please make sure, however, that you sign out immediately after your session to ensure that an accurate session report is generated for your professor.
For drop-in subjects, be prepared to spend time in the Academic Success Center — tutoring is on a walk-in basis, so be aware that during periods of high volume, there may be a wait. Do not wait until the day before a test or quiz to seek help; it may be busy in the Academic Success Center, and you may not be able to get the amount of help that you desire.
Be conscious of the Academic Success Center’s limitations. Tutors are not authorized to be of any assistance on take-home tests or other assigned graded work. Tutors can explain any similar problems that you locate in the textbook. Please do not ask the tutor to participate in any activity that may be deemed academically dishonest.
The Academic Success Center has laptops available. However, if you need to take an online test or quiz, you must use the computers in the Library or a computer lab. You may not take any part of a test or quiz in the Center.
Ask one of the Center staff if you need any help or have any questions.
Lending Policies
Students may use current textbooks, resource manuals, and calculators within the Center. Certain Solutions Manuals can only be used in the presence of a tutor and may not be taken out of the Center. Textbooks and select Solutions Manuals can be taken out of the Center for photocopies or scans to be made if the student presents a photo I.D. and signs it out. Copyright policies must be followed while copying or scanning. The book must be returned to the Center within a reasonable amount of time. Students may also sign-out calculators for use in class and on finals if the Library does not have any calculators left to loan. The calculator must be returned within the same day unless an exception is made for an evening class.
Students may sign out CDs, DVDs, and previous textbooks. No time is specified for their return; however, a return date should be designated when signing out the resource.
What We Can't Help With
Tutors may not directly help students with:
-In-class essays - Tutors may discuss the readings associated with the in-class essay, as well as understanding the assignment. Tutors may also discuss general writing strategies, but they may not help with any part of writing the actual essay or any outline. A tutor may help with the revision of an in-class assignment only after the Instructor has granted permission and notified the Director or the Assistant Director that the revision does not replace the original grade.
-Take-home tests or quizzes.
-Extra credit – We are unable to help with extra credit associated with any take-home or in-class assessment; however, extra credit support may be available for other assignments based upon the nature of the course. Other restrictions may also apply based on an instructor’s requirements. Tutors can discuss general strategies and concepts for these assignments. Students must plan ahead to receive tutoring. We are not always able to accommodate same-day requests, and last-minute tutoring is ineffective, as it does not allow sufficient time for understanding course material or for test preparation.
Tutors cannot: -Proofread for students, write any part of a paragraph or essay, or write on a student’s paper.
-Guarantee that a student will receive good grades.
-Do homework for students.
-Take the place of going to class.
-Advise students about current or future course selection.