Student Success Center

The Student Success Center is an academic support center that focuses on supporting students holistically and providing academic resources.

Mission Statement

The Student Success Center is designed with the student's success in mind. We help students overcome obstacles and help them find success accomplishing their personal, educational, and professional goals. We take an individualized and holistic approach to working with students and connect with other campus resources to ensure every student gets the support they need. Whether you are at risk of failing a class, or a straight-A student, we have services and tools that can help you to succeed.

Services

All of our services are free and open to any student, including:

  • One-on-one tutoring
    • Available for Liberal Arts subjects, Writing, and TEAS testing
  • Success coaching
    • Individualized guidance from a personal coach
  • Support for students on Academic Warning, Probation, or Suspension
  • Workshops and events
    • Tips on relevant topics and situations
  • Online and in-person resources

Tutoring

All our tutoring services are FREE to students, both online and in-person. Our tutors and class availability changes each semester, but we generally support:

  • Liberal Arts subjects
    • Computer basics, Psychology, Business, etc.
  • Writing assignments
    • English composition classes, writing assignments in any course

Become a Peer Tutor

We are always looking for student peer tutors interested in helping their peers be successful. To apply, fill out the peer tutor application form by clicking on the link below for more information.

Peer Tutor Application

Meet our Tutors

Tutoring is available both online and in-person, and is based on the availability of our tutors. To schedule an appointment, please call us at 413-755-4715 or send us an email at ssc@stcc.edu or writingcenter@stcc.edu. Please include your name, student ID number, subject, and some days/times you are available. For our current schedule, please visit our Portal Page.

  • Ask questions about a specific chapter, reading, or topic
  • Have a tutor review a draft of your paper or assignment
  • Review assignment instructions and rubrics
  • Go over formatting for a paper
  • Study for an upcoming exam by creating study materials, reviewing key concepts, or having a tutor quiz you
  • Send or look at email communications with your professor

The college offers an online service called Net-tutor. Net-tutor is an online platform that offers tutoring services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Click on the image below and login using your STCC account information to access Net-tutor.

How to use Net-tutor video

Instructions for using Net-tutor

We are always looking for student peer tutors interested in helping their peers be successful. To apply, fill out the peer tutor application form by clicking on the link below for more information.

Peer Tutor Application

Success Coaching

Our Student Success Coaches focus on empowering students to discover their potential and learn how to balance and navigate the demands and nuances of college life.

Coaches are equipped to help students in the following areas:

  • Study skills
  • Time management
  • Organizational skills
  • Self-Care strategies
  • Technology assistance
  • Guidance towards on and off-campus resources
  • Note-taking, reading, writing, and test strategies
  • Advocacy skills
  • Adjusting to campus culture
  • Tools to combat procrastination
  • Removing barriers to academic success
  • Academic guidance and success planning

To schedule an appointment with a coach, please call us at 413-755-4715, email us at ssc@stcc.edu, or complete the request form below.

Success Coaching Request form

  • Ask questions about the college environment and adjusting to campus culture
  • Discuss financial aid
  • Review classes and organize your assignments
  • Manage your time/schedule and priorities
  • Discuss ways to stay motivated and focused
  • Go through skills and tools for studying, taking notes, reading textbooks, etc.
  • Talk about your academic and personal goals
  • Find ways to stop procrastinating and manage a heavy course load
  • Connect with other campus resources that can help in other aspects of life

Support for Academic Warning and Suspension

Students must achieve a minimum 2.0 GPA in order to be eligible for graduation from STCC (and some degree programs require minimum GPAs higher than 2.0). Each matriculated student’s academic standing is evaluated at the conclusion of every Fall and Spring semester. Students deemed to be in poor academic standing based on their cumulative GPA will be subject to either an Academic Warning, or an Academic Suspension.  The criteria used to determine standings include a student’s total number of attempted credits as well as a student’s cumulative GPA. To see the specific credit breakdowns, please visit the official Academic Standing policy.

The Student Success Center supports students who are struggling academically, and may find themselves on Academic Warning or Academic Suspension. If a student’s academic standing is below the college’s requirement, we will work with the student to help them get back on track.

What is Academic Warning?

Students who do not achieve good academic standing status at the conclusion of a semester will be placed on Academic Warning. A student who has been issued an academic warning must work with a Success Coach or Advisor to plan action steps to improve their academic performance. Students who have received academic warnings will be removed from academic warning status if, at the conclusion of the next semester, they have met the criteria for good academic standing. Alternatively, a student may be continued on academic warning status if their cumulative GPA remains below that required for good academic standing but their semester GPA is 2.0 or higher.

What is Academic Suspension?

Students who have been placed on Academic Warning or attempted a certain amount of credits will be placed on Academic Suspension if they fail to meet the requirements outlined above. If a student is placed on Academic Suspension, they must submit an appeal and complete the process before they can register for courses. If they are approved and their suspension has been lifted, they will be moved to an Academic Warning status and be paired with a Success Coach.

  • Your student registration account gets placed on hold.
  • You become in jeopardy of losing your financial aid award.
  • If you have already registered for the upcoming semester, your classes will be dropped.

The process:

  • Submit the Appeal of Academic Suspension E-Form.
  • Once the E-Form is received, you will be sent a link to schedule a meeting with the Academic Review Board (ARB).
  • The ARB (a caring support team of staff and faculty members) will discuss best practices and ways to ensure that you are set-up for success for the upcoming semester.
  • Keep in mind, in order for you to be eligible to register for the upcoming semester, you must appeal your suspension

 

Workshops

We host several workshops throughout the semester geared towards student success, academic skills, and more! All workshops are free for students and are typically held through Zoom. For a full list of our previous topics and workshops, please visit our Portal Page.

Fall 2024

How to Be a Successful Student

  • Monday, Sep. 16th at 12:15 p.m.
  • Zoom link
    • ID: 413 755 4715
    • Passcode: 721576
  • Description
    • Join the Student Success and Writing Center to talk about tools and techniques you can use to be a more successful student here at STCC. We will be discussing everything from note-taking to time management and covering many different areas of key academic skills.

Combatting Procrastination

  • Thursday, Oct. 17th at 12:15 p.m.
  • Zoom link
    • ID: 413 755 4715
    • Passcode: 721576
  • Description
    • Procrastination can be a huge struggle for many students, and it causes a lot of anxiety and stress. Join us to learn ways you can combat procrastination, and discuss some specific tools and methods for better managing your time and workload.

Resources

For a full list of free resources, please visit our Portal Page.

  • Assignment calculator
    • Guides and templates for speeches, research papers, and lab reports.
  • GPA calculator
    • Calculate your overall or semester GPA.
  • Grade calculator
    • Calculate your grade in a class using the course syllabus and breaking down each percentage.
  • Goblin tools
    • An AI tool that can break down tasks, make your message sound more/less professional, estimate how long a task will take, and more.
  • Learning style quiz
    • See what kind of learner you are and how you intake information best.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can call us at 413-755-475, email us at ssc@stcc.edu, or visit our office in-person to schedule an appointment.

Yes. Whether you’ve just started, are in the middle of, or have finished your writing assignment, you can receive help.

You have the option between online or in-person, depending on the availability of the tutor.

Students can schedule three appointments a week with a tutor for up to one hour each appointment

Yes, as long as the tutor you are requesting is available, you can work with them as many times as you need.

For remote appointments, we encourage students to have their cameras on whenever possible as it is easier when reviewing your work. If having your camera off makes you most comfortable please let your tutor know.

No, tutors are only permitted to correct the format of your writing, so they cannot tell you whether an answer is correct or not.

Tutors share only what students give permission to share such as specific topics discussed in the session. Sharing with faculty shows them that you are serious about doing well in their course.

Online/Zoom Session Tips

  • One on one with tutor
  • Ability to screen share 
    • Use of on-screen annotation or drawing 
  • Ability to work through Google Doc 
    • Both parties should have this open to collaborate
  • Camera on whenever possible
    • This helps to facilitate nonverbal communication which can be more informative at times
    • This will also allow you to feel more of a human connection with your tutor
  • Find a quiet and comfortable place to work
    • Preferably alone so there are no distractions.
  • Establish your working area with minimal distractions
    • If possible ask others to leave the room 
    • Turn off music/televisions 
    • Do your best to avoid answering your cell phone whenever possible
  • Make sure you test your video/lighting/and sound prior to the session 
    • Test headphones ahead of time if you use them
  • Open your assignment instructions.
    • If you’ve started your assignment, keep it open so that it’s easy to turn to.
  • Have any draft of your assignment ready to be shared for collaboration
  • Prepare questions and concerns you have before a session.
    • These can be broad or vague ideas to get started at first
    • Examples:
      • “What should my outline contain?”
      • “How do I write a thesis statement?”
      • “Can you help me understand the assignment criteria?”

Contact

Office Location: Ira H. Rubenzahl Student Learning Commons (Building 19), 2nd floor

Phone: 413-755-4715

Email: SSC@stcc.edu

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

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