Two students sitting in the CELS building discussing things.

Tutorial Services

One of the goals of the Center for Academic Success & Tutoring (CAST) is to offer quality tutorial services to Montclair State University students. Students are encouraged to take advantage of CAST tutoring, covered within their tuition, which fosters active learning, reasoning and critical thinking. Our staff works to create a comfortable and engaging environment for students to further develop their academic skills and knowledge. Additionally, the tutors working at the Center are trained and certified in applying learning strategies and tutoring techniques to help students become more confident and competent learners while facing academic challenges and mastering the course content.

Meet the Tutors! Make an Appointment Couldn’t Find Your Course?

Additional tutoring hours will be available for all students at Tutor.com.  Learn about this supplemental service and access it live through canvas.

How to Make a Tutoring Appointment
  • Click on the blue “Make an appointment” button on the right-hand side of the web page.
Screenshot of website
  1. From the first drop down menu, please select the “Academic Support” option.
  2. On the next drop down menu, select the service type (course specific tutoring, general subject tutoring, peer academic coaching, etc.). Information about the service types can be found below.
  3. Once the appropriate content area or subject is selected you can then select a specific tutor or choose all available times.
  4. Complete the appointment form providing detailed information on what you would like to meet with the tutor about. Please be as specific as possible so the tutor may prepare for your appointment.
    • What is the class you would like help in?
    • What specific topic (not chapter) will be covered?
    • What is the goal of the tutoring session? (Review for test, help understanding the material better, assist with organization for assignments)

We ask that appointments be made at least an hour in advance and if you cannot attend,  please try to cancel your appointment 2 hours prior so that someone else can utilize your time.Canceling less than 2 hours before an appointment will be counted as a no show in Navigate.

Students who are over 15 minutes late to a meeting or miss their session twice within 30 days are marked as a NO SHOW and will be unable to schedule tutoring appointments. If you receive an unexpected notice of “Sorry! There are no availability supporting the scheduling of Appointments at this time.” this is likely the cause. Please reach out to CAST support to discuss the missed sessions or wait 30 days from the last missed session for your counter to be rest.

Quick Guide to Service Types

What Service Type is best for you?

Service Type Description Best for Example
Course Specific Tutoring Match a tutor to a specific class Appointments and popular classes. First choice for content specific support. You take BIOL 112 and select the class to see which tutors have also taken BIOL 112 and can help
General Subject Tutoring Select a tutor in a content area who may not have taken the class but has knowledge surrounding the content. Students looking for appointments who cannot find a course specific tutor, wants a tutor faster and knows details of what they are looking for help with. You are in HIST 118 and need help writing an essay. You do not see a HIST 118 course specific tutors,so you can select a general writing tutor and describe your needs for an appointment.
Supplemental Instruction Walk-in,content-based support with a tutor directly connected to your class. Students not looking for appointments and either have a quick question or want to stay and review for the full session. You are in MATH 112 and had a tutor attend your class and want to ask a question about a problem discussed in class.
Peer Academic Coaching An appointment with a tutor trained to tutor success skills rather than course content. Students struggle with things like time management, studying and more. This is often a good starting point if you don’t know where to start but are not doing as well as you hoped. You are looking for new study habits to improve your test performance or want to learn how to mange your time more efficiently for all your classes.

If you are interested in tutoring but as unsure if a session is available please Tutoring Course Request Form and a staff member will assist in pairing you with the appropriate tutor.

What is Expected of Our Students?

It takes two to tutor, so make sure you come prepared.

Arrive on time

  • Any student over 15 minutes late to a scheduled appointment will have their appointment dropped and it will be open for walk-in students.
  • If a student is over 15 minutes late or misses two or more appointments, their account with our scheduling site will be disabled and will only be allowed walk-in appointments going forward.

Be Prepared

  • your internet is working well
  • your audio and webcam are working
  • your browser is up to date

Know what you want to work on

  • On your appointment form, give your tutor a good description of the topics and questions you would like to work on. The more information, the better they can prepare.
  • Come having started the work and with questions and resources (textbook, calculators, assignments) for the tutor. This gives you the most out of your time.
  • Please be aware to make sure all students can use our resources, students are allowed 2 hours of tutoring appointments within a day and 3 hours with a particular tutor in a week.

Know what your role is and what your tutor’s role is

  • We want to help you learn so the CAST staff and our tutors appreciate students who come ready to learn. The two best ways to learn are to “do” and to “teach”. This means your tutor might try to be more hands off and may ask you questions or ask you to explain.

Canceling

  • We ask that appointments be made at least an hour in advance and if you cannot attend,  please try and cancel your appointment 2 hours prior so someone else can utilize your time.

For more information regarding how to schedule an online tutoring appointment, how to access the appointment, along with functions and tools that both you and your tutor can use during the appointment, please watch the following video:

Online Tutoring How-To Video

Issues Accessing Your Account?


Students who are over 15 minutes late to a meeting or miss their session twice within 30 days are marked as a NO SHOW and will be unable to schedule tutoring appointments. If you receive an unexpected notice of “Sorry! There are no availabilities supporting the scheduling of Appointments at this time.” this is likely the cause. Please reach out to CAST support to discuss the missed sessions or wait 30 days from the last missed session for your counter to be rest.

Contact Us

Student working at a computer seated at a desk

If you have any issues or concerns, please reach out to the CAST at cast@montclair.edu.