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ACT Policies - Columbus State University

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Academic Center for Tutoring

ACT Policies

Cancellation Policy

Cancelling appointments in a timely manner allows other clients to fill those appointments. Clients must cancel appointments 1 hour prior to their scheduled appointments. Appointments not cancelled 1 hour or more prior to a scheduled appointment will be marked as "no-show" appointments. If student clients miss 3 appointments, their permission to make appointments with the ACT will be blocked.

No-Show Policy

Missed or "no-show" appointments occur when Columbus State University student clients of the ACT do not cancel their appointments 1 hour before their appointment, or they do not attend their appointment at the recorded scheduled time. Clients are responsible for cancelling their own appointments, either by cancelling online or by visiting or calling/emailing the ACT. If student clients miss 3 appointments, then their permission to make appointments with the ACT will be blocked.

Appointment Limit Policy

Staff and scheduling software used by the ACT can limit the number of appointments made by a student in order to ensure fair access to tutoring services for all CSU students. Students are currently limited to no more than 5 hours of appointments each week. Allowances for additional appointments may be made on a case-by-case basis as long as it does not interfere with other students‘ access to services.

Drop-in Tutoring

The ACT operates on an appointment basis. However, if an appointment is available, you can make one the same day. Please contact the ACT to check for same day appointments.

Editing

The ACT is a peer education pedagogical service. The ACT is not an editing or correction service, where, for example, clients submit their work to the Center and a staff member edits or corrects the work without client participation. Staff can explain, model, and guide client practice in an effort to help clients develop strategies for independent learning, editing, and problem solving. See General Expectations Policies below for further elaboration, or visit the ACT for further explanation.

General Expectations Policies

Clients can expect:

  • Interaction with a knowledgaeble, courteous, and attentive staff member.
  • The ACT peer educators to ask more questions than offer direct answers or model learning and writing strategies, as methods for helping students continue to develop as independent learners.
  • An inviting environment, where the design is comfortable and staff and fellow students respect each other.
  • Professionalism

The ACT staff members expect clients to

  • Use their own Accudemia accounts to make appointments.
  • Arrive on time for their appointments (if applicable) with all the materials necessary for a successful session.
  • Arrive at their appointments or sessions with appropriate material at hand and ready to engage actively with their assigned tutor, and exit appointments promptly to allow subsequent appointments to begin on time.
  • Avoid interrupting appointments with other clients.
  • Avoid
    • physical contact and to adhere to campus harassments policies (PDF).
    • answering cell phones and texts, unless notified at the beginning of the session that an emergency call is expected.
    • eating during sessions, as this is unsanitary as well as distracting to the session.
    • personal conversations about topics outside of what is being tutored, including inappropriate or negative discussion about other tutors.
    • contacting tutors outside of appointments unless it pertains to tutoring subjects and activities.
  • Avoid asking us to predict grades or complete class forms, unless the director and an instructor have made previous arrangements.

Right to Refuse Service Policy

We have the right to refuse service if clients

  • Create a hostile tutoring environment
  • Regularly miss or cancel appointments to the detriment of other clients
  • Refuse to participate actively in their tutoring sessions

Sexual Harassment

The ACT, as CSU, has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment. If sexual harassment is reported by a client or by a staff member. It will be reported immediately to the appropriate CSU contact, and, depending on the role of the person in relation to the ACT, scheduling for the accused will terminate.

Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination based on sex, and will not be tolerated at Columbus State University. We define sexual harassment as unwelcomed conduct of a sexual nature, which includes unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other sex-related verbal, physical, or nonverbal (e.g., sexually based stalking, videotaping, "sexting," and voyeurism) conduct. Sexual violence, which includes rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual coercion, and dating/domestic violence, is a form of sexual harassment/discrimination.

Turnitin.com & Plagiarism Policy

The ACT does not manage or offer instruction related to the site and app Turnitin.com. Student clients must contact their instructors regarding concerns about Turnitin.com, or contact Crystal Woods at woods_crystal@columbusstate.edu. Staff are limited to assisting student clients with formatting and citing direct quotations, summaries, and paraphrases of original sources in an official academic format, if Turnitin.com results suggest this need. The ACT is not an arbiter of any disputes regarding Turnitin.com, plagiarism, and instructor grading related to plagiarism. Student clients must contact the appropriate department chairs for disputes related to plagiarism.

Tutoring Non-CSU Clients & Freelance Tutoring Policy

Due to safety and legal concerns, we do not tutor non-CSU students. We also do not broker tutors‘ services to offer freelance tutoring outside of the ACT. For tutoring for non-CSU students visit the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries website for offered services to residents in their service area.

Campus Carry (House Bill 280)

ACT staff and clients should know and comply with the Campus Carry (House Bill 280) law. For information regarding Campus Carry (HB 280), please read more about it at on the Campus Carry (House Bill 280) webpage of CSU University Police.

Children in the ACT

CSU students are welcome to bring a child to a tutoring appointment if the child can avoid being disruptive to other tutoring appointments, which would infringe on the rights of other student clients to a quality academic support experience. A child must be able to sit at an adjacent table or sitting area quietly in the ACT. CSU student clients who bring a child to the ACT cannot leave the child with a tutor to supervise. If ACT staff are uncomfortable tutoring clients with children, then the CSU student client, director, and staff will need to meet to determine another solution.

Ask Cody

Ask Cody