Academic Assistance

UTD has several offices dedicated to helping Comets succeed. Photo by Archive | Mercury Staff

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UTD’s Student Success Center (SSC) offers a variety of programs to support students in their academic journey. Here is a list of a few:

Peer Tutoring

Peer Tutoring is offered for select courses on a walk-in basis and sometimes by appointment. The list of supported courses can be found online. The tutors are other students who have previously done well in the course and passed a rigorous content exam. Tutors also offer weekly reviews and exam reviews, although these services aren’t available for the summer semester. For the moment, Peer Tutoring services are still being offered virtually, but this will likely change for the fall semester.

Supplemental Instruction (SI)

SI sessions are group reviews hosted by an SI leader who has previously succeeded in the course. The SI leader attends the class along with the students, so they are aware of exactly what content has been covered. The SI leader also knows how best to prepare for the exams, as they have previously taken the course with the same professor.

Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL)

PLTL is available for historically challenging introductory math, physics and chemistry courses. Students sign up for a weekly aone-and-a-half hour session with a facilitator and small group of up to eight other students where they work through a set of practice problems in their chosen subject. PLTL is more of a commitment than the other SSC programs, as students must actively participate to gain the full benefit of the session and are only allowed a limited number of absences before they are dropped from the program.

Workshops

In the summer, the SSC hosts preparatory workshops for courses that students tend to find challenging, including calculus, general chemistry and organic chemistry. These workshops are usually two days long, are taught by UTD professors and TAs, and introduce the course while reviewing prerequisite material. The SSC also hosts a College 101 Workshop Series during the first week of classes that’s geared toward first-year students and addresses general skills needed to succeed in the college environment.

Writing Center

The Writing Center allows students to receive individualized feedback on their essays. To use this service, make an appointment online. After making an appointment, you’ll be sent a short form in which you can upload your essay and tell the tutor what you would like help with. Feedback will be provided live during the appointment.

CommLab

The CommLab is designed to help students with their required speeches for communications courses. You must make an appointment online and upload an outline of your speech beforehand to receive feedback.

Academic Success Coaching

Academic Success Coaching offers students one on one help with general academic skills such as time management, study strategies, goal setting and managing test anxiety. They also have an online form through which students can ask questions about study skills at any time.