FacFocus

No, AAC tutors are not allowed to help students with anything that will be turned in for a grade. After a graded assignment is returned, students can review it with their tutor.

To be considered for a tutoring position, applicants must have a cumulative GPA of a 3.0 or higher have earned a B+ or higher in the classes they would like to support, and be recommended by a professor in the subject area they would like to tutor.

The AAC offers two different styles of tutoring: Appointment-Based and Drop-In. AAC tutors use active learning strategies, open questions, and facilitation techniques to encourage participation and collaboration in each session.

Each session is one hour long. The tutor typically structures the appointment around students’ questions or challenges, providing guidance, support, and opportunities for practice and reflection on their learning processes. AAC tutors are not allowed to assist students with work that will be submitted for a grade, but can help students locate additional practice questions and can review content relevant to questions the student has.

Additionally, students are encouraged to attend tutoring sessions every week to stay on top of course material– and they can attend up to 3 sessions per week!

Appointment Based: AAC tutoring sessions are facilitated in small groups of up to 5 students from the same course and course section. Students sign up for appointments on TracCloud at least 12 hours in advance and they are expected to show up for any sessions they sign up for (students with more than 3 no-shows or 4 cancellations will have their scheduling ability paused until they speak with an AAC staff person).

Drop-In: AAC tutoring offers drop in tutoring for several high-demand classes. These sessions are scheduled in a specific location at a specific time for a specific course.

For drop-in sessions, students do not sign up in advance; they simply join the session at the scheduled time (and are welcome to arrive late or leave early if their schedule requires it).

All AAC tutors complete at least 12 hours of training during their first semester as a tutor. During training, tutors learn and practice using open questions, checking for understanding, active listening, and cognitive scaffolding.

Our tutor training program is College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) certified, and tutors have the opportunity to complete all three levels of CRLA tutor training.

We currently offer OWLS for…

• Introduction to AAC Services (20-minute and 50-minute formats available) 

• Note Taking 

• Study Strategies 

• Test Preparation 

• Time Management & Overcoming Procrastination 

If you have a topic that you would like the AAC to develop a workshop on, you can request a “special topic.”  Requests for topics not on this list (or requests that combine topics) are considered at the discretion of the Academic Achievement Center, based on content and availability. We do our best to fulfill every request we receive and will work with you to prepare a session that meets your needs.

Yes! If you have a topic that you would like the AAC to develop a workshop on, you can request a “special topic” in the OWLS request form.

Special requests (or requests that combine topics) are considered at the discretion of the Academic Achievement Center, based on content and availability. We do our best to fulfill every request we receive and will work with you to prepare a session that meets your needs.

If you’d like to discuss special request options prior to submitting your request, please contact Ike Hawkins by emailing [email protected] or call (336) 334-4171.

After submitting a request, the Academic Achievement Center will contact you via email to confirm the details of your request. Each workshop is designed to take 50 minutes (unless a longer time is arranged). All OWLS facilitators use active learning techniques to engage with participants, including discussion, activities, and group work. Typically participants are also asked to complete a short assessment as part of the workshop. NOTE: The “Introduction to AAC Services” workshop can be requested in a 20-minute or 50-minute format. The 50-minute format includes introductory AAC content with a SMART goals activity. Please select your preferred duration when submitting your request.

To request a workshop for your class, please submit this form.

• Before requesting a workshop, please read the requirements: 

• Workshops should only be requested for UNCG students (courses and/or student groups). 

• We ask for two weeks’ notice on all standard topics, and at least three weeks for special topic requests. 

• The requestor must be reasonably assured that 10 or more students will attend the requested event. 

General Notes:

• OWLS can be requested for Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters, but not during the Final Exam periods. 

• Weekend workshops are only facilitated when presenters are available. 

• We reserve the right to cancel any workshop request that does not meet the requirements. 

• For workshops that are facilitated in-person, we ask the requestor to ensure that a teaching station or projector is available for our use in the space. 

Our policy requires that the instructor be present for the duration of a workshop, as written in our workshop request form and agreement. The instructor’s presence in the class helps promote students’ ability to apply workshop content to relevant course material and processes. The AAC reserves the right to deny future requests from instructors who do not comply with this requirement. OWLS facilitators are not be responsible for recording class attendance.

There are three main benefits to using the UPL: Flexibility, Equity, and Integrity.

Flexibility:

•  Students can schedule their exams for a time of day that works best for them (we’re open 9AM to 9PM nearly every Mon-Fri). 

• Instructors can choose to offer multiple attempts, as well as quick and easy make-ups and re-takes, etc., as best fits their instructional need. 

• Increased class time can be spent on instruction, review, and learning activities. 

• Get graded tests back to students faster (using a computer-based exam vs. a paper-based exam). 

Equity:

• Technological barriers to testing are minimized because we provide the computers and the internet service. 

• Students have just-in-time technical and test taking support from trained proctors. 

• Students with testing accommodations aren’t singled out like during in-class exams. 

• Our space is distraction-reduced, with positive and calm staff and great natural lighting. 

Integrity:

• We verify all test takers’ identity  before they are seated for their exam. 

• Only authorized materials are allowed at testing stations. 

• Gentle environmental controls help students avoid the temptation to cheat. 

• We document and report to instructors any unusual occurrence or suspicious behavior. 

If you have concerns about capacity because of the size of your class and the frequency of your class testing, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we can give you a sense of whether we can meet your needs.  To see some photos of our testing space, please take a look at this short reel from Spring 2023.

The University Proctoring Lab seats between 40-45 computer-based test takers at a time, and we offer test seating every 90-minutes. We also have 10 paper-based testing stations, which can add up to 80 students per day if they’re taking paper-based exams.

At maximum capacity, we can typically seat around 350 computer-based test takers and 80 paper-based test takers per day, Monday through Friday. By request, we also open for a few hours of Saturday testing at least once per month during the typical semester.

During midterms and final exams, we also have an arrangement with ITS to use one of their spaces as a “pop-up” testing lab (if projected capacity warrants it), which provides us with an additional 100-120 seats per day.

The UPL uses gentle environmental control to minimize the temptation to cheat. We view our role as supporting the student in focusing on their exam, and helping “make the best choice the easy choice” during every exam.

This includes:

• Positive and encouraging physical presence from our staff; eye contact, greeting by name, etc. 

• Verbally reminding each test taker of the instructor’s testing rules and requirements. 

• Color-coded signage at each station reminding students of the specific instructor-supplied testing rules. 

• Providing most testing supplies directly to the student (scratch paper, headphones, basic calculators). 

• Regular and consistent walk-throughs of the space by multiple staff.  

• The inspection and documentation of non-standard materials we aren’t able to supply ourselves. 

• The use of dividers that extend beyond the table surface between all work stations. 

• Screen viewing and remote control access to all computers. 

• Randomized assigned seating to prevent collusion between test takers. 

• Removing access to sites (like Google) that pose a temptation, and even disabling keyboards if not required for the exam. 

• Optional use of Respondus Lockdown Browser (by faculty request). 

The UPL has a partnership with the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) that allows us to proctor many quizzes and tests for students with authorized testing accommodations. Testing accommodations we regularly provide include:

• make-up exams and exam-retakes 

• extended time (up to 90 minutes) 

• testing space management for students who use wheelchairs, walkers, canes and other mobility aids 

• reduced distraction or the use of headphones/noise cancelling during testing 

• alternate format exams (e.g., a paper test rather than computer or vice versa) 

Because of our partnership with OARS, the TracCloud scheduling platform automatically routes students with testing accommodations to schedule with the best location once we receive the testing instruction form from the instructor. To complete the Testing Instruction form, click here.  (If you are not a UNCG instructor, email [email protected] and we’ll provide an alternative version of this form)

We ask for 10-14 days’ notice for any whole-class testing.

• 1-2 days is typically sufficient for make-up exams where only a few students are being sent. 

• If we’re administering a paper-based test, we need the test file the day prior to the testing window. 

To complete the Testing Instruction form, click here.  (If you are not a UNCG instructor, email [email protected] and we’ll provide an alternative version of this form)

Once we have those details, we will reach out to confirm any details we need and make a plan for communicating with students enrolled in your course about their test.

NOTE: If you have a large class (more than 100 students), and you want to send the entire class to the UPL, we encourage the following:

• administer your exam using Canvas (we only have 10 paper-based exam testing stations, but we have 50 computer-based stations)  

• if possible, let us know your tentative testing dates early in the semester so we can plan our availability around your needs (an email to [email protected] is sufficient!) 

• consider giving a 3-4 day testing window to complete the test