Alternate options for UVic students to find tutors

Unfilled Requests with the Learning Assistance Program (LAP)

We take care in hiring tutors who have content expertise and experience in supporting students. These tutors are hired as casual UVic staff, attend initial training, and then continually access training and other supports over the term of their employment. Each term we try to predict the tutoring requests we will receive, and we hire accordingly. Unfortunately, we still receive requests each semester in courses where we have not hired a qualified tutor. Either we did not accurately predict the demand, or we were unable to find a tutor who was a good fit for our team.

The Learning Assistance Program appreciates every request that we receive – even if we cannot fill the request, it helps us to make predictions for future semesters. We hope that you find the following resources useful as an alternative to our program. This list is not exhaustive. Many private companies or individuals also offer tutoring services, which may be found online. Please keep in mind, that if you are using CSG funding to pay for services, you should connect with your accessibility advisor ahead of time to confirm if the credentials and price of the tutor will work with your funding.

Free Services at UVic

The LAP also runs Study Solutions, which is a free, drop-in service to meet with a Learning Strategist.

Downloadable learning strategy resources can be found on this site. Resources include content on time management, goal setting, studying, notetaking, and more.

The Academic Skills Centre supports UVic students with reading, writing, speaking, understanding academic expectations, and other aspects of academic communication. Sessions can be booked through their website.

The Math and Stats Assistance Centre helps with 100 and 200 level math and stats courses, and the Physics Aid Service helps with any level of undergraduate physics courses.

The Amicus Program supports students in the first year of the Law program.

Course outlines may also have additional information about support programs particular to that course or department, including professor and TA office hours.

Fee Based Tutoring Options

Please keep in mind that the following lists are maintained by their respective organizations for convenience of students. The LAP does not specifically endorse any of the included individuals. Please use your judgement to determine if they will be a good fit for your needs.

The Math and Stats private tutor list is maintained by the Math and Stats Assistance Centre.

The UVic Chemistry Department Tutor List can be found on their department page under Academic Links.

The Engineering Student Society Peer Tutor List contains tutors who offer support in a range of STEM courses.

If you log into UVic’s Co-op and Career portal with your UVic netlink ID, then you can search tutors through their tutor registry.

In addition, we also encourage student to check with their professors, TAs, or department to see if they may know anyone personally who may be able to work with you as a tutor.

Template language for looking for private tutors

You might find some of the following language helpful if you are reaching out to your professors, TAs, or department.

“

I am reaching out to see if you can recommend anybody who may be interested in tutoring me in [course, eg. MATH 100]. I’m currently taking the course and I would really appreciate additional one-on-one support. Could you connect me with anyone who has previously taught or been a TA for the course, who might be available to meet with me?

“

Checklist of questions for asking tutor

The following questions are not comprehensive – depending on your needs, there might be additional questions you would like to ask the tutor as well. Many of these questions might already be answered by the tutor in their advertisement, depending on how you connect with them.

• Payment related questions:
  • What rate do you charge?
  • How often do you expect payment?
• For students accessing the Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment (CSG):
  • Can you fill out the attached quote for services? (attach copy of the quote form to email)
    • the CSG funding covers up to $60/hr, for up to 2 hours/week, for the duration of your course (usually 15 weeks)
  • Will you be able to sign a receipt form and record of sessions at the end of the semester?
• Session details
  • Where can you meet? (OR) Can you meet on UVic campus? (OR) Can you meet online?
  • What times are you available? (OR) Are you available at any of these times? (list)