Academic Counseling Tutoring Services

Academic Counseling and Tutorial Services (ACTS) is comprised of three component areas: Tutorial Services (TS), Peer Academic Coaching (PAC), and Learning Specialist Student Appointments (LSSA). 

ACTS Team:

1. Carissa Ábrego, ACTS Program Administrator (TS, AT)
2. Darcy Barrick, Academic Counseling Coordinator (PAC, LSSA)
3. Carlos Salazar, Drop-in Tutoring Coordinator (DIT)
4. Jasdeep Batth (ACTS Graduate Assistant)Tutorial Services (TS)

The Tutorial Services program has been a vital and valuable component of the Sanger Center’s mission since the mid-1970s, when the Center first began to offer tutoring.  Now employing a staff of over 180 academically knowledgeable and effectively trained student educators, it provides individualized and group tutoring to UT students.  Below are the two primary services offered through TS:

• Appointment Tutoring (AT). AT provides one-to-one tutoring by appointment sessions for over 70 courses in 16 different subject areas. Each session is one hour in duration.  Students use an online interface, MyUGS, to review available tutoring appointments, schedule them online, and evaluate their tutoring sessions when completed. Students are instructed to meet their tutors in the designated wait area on the third floor of Jester, located across the hallway from JES A314A. This service is great for students who need individualized attention from a tutor. Online Tutoring began as a pilot program within appointment tutoring before the pandemic. Now, tutors can choose whether they offer online or in-person appointments through MyUGS.
• Drop-In Tutoring (DIT). In JES A315, DIT offers free group-based (i.e., one tutor to several students) content help for many lower-division math, physics, and chemistry courses. While interactions with a tutor in DIT are typically limited to a few minutes, this service is excellent for students who want to work on their homework with tutors available to guide them.

Peer Academic Coaching (PAC)

• The Peer Academic Coaching program allows students to meet with a peer academic coach throughout the semester or just once for a specific topic. Coaches work with students on effective planning and studying techniques for UT courses. Topics include managing time, prepping for tests, concentrating while reading, and matching study skills to test requirements. The Sanger Learning Center employs approximately 25 peer coaches during each long semester. PAC sessions take place in the open tutoring area. PAC does not usually operate during the summer. 

Learning Specialist Student Appointments (LSSA)

• Learning specialists provide academic counseling to assist students with study-related concerns or to help them develop effective study strategies.  Students can schedule a one-hour appointment either online or by calling our main office at (512) 471-3614.  Topics discussed include the following: time management, study effectiveness, test preparation, and test-taking strategies, test anxiety, and reading effectively—to name a few topics.
• Handouts, a frequently used resource, provide additional or supplemental information about many of the issues that come up frequently in LS appointments. Sanger staff continually work to keep handouts current and systematically update them. There are hard copies located within JES 332, outside of JES 332, and outside of JES 315.