Tutors from Disability Services, ACCESS programs, Aboriginal Focus Programs, the ALC Writing Tutor Program, ALC Content Tutors, Bison Sport Plus, Campus Life, UMES, UM Peers, and the U1 Mentorship Program have taken part in and benefitted from previous training sessions.

Tutor Training is designed to improve the overall quality of tutoring on campus. Participants benefit by learning about the role of a tutoring life cycle by improving critcal thinking and communication skills. Tutors who attend the training and complete the assigned activities also earn recognition on their Experience Record.

Tutor Training is free and open to all UM students. Registration is available through out ALC General Tutor Registration form for November 2025.

The next Tutor Training session runs from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12 in room 206 Tier building.

For students looking to improve their writing skills, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) provides  one-to-one and group tutoring,  and Drop-in Study Sessions. Writing Tutors make suggestions on students’ work and help develop writing skills at any stage in the writing process or any level of writing. Writing tutors help build foundational skills for writing and strengthen existing skills.

Strong writing is more than proper sentence structure, grammar, or spelling. Completing an academic paper requires skills such as note-taking, research, reading, and time management. For those new to university, the writing process may be unfamiliar. “Organization is a big one [writing skill], as many students are accustomed to writing without an outline upon starting university. For shorter and less complex essays at the high school level, this can be a workable approach, but it is almost invariably a bad idea at the university level,” notes Garrett Levacque, writing tutor with the ALC.

Levacque highlights the value of meeting early with writing tutors: “Some of the appointments [that] students have implied or said were particularly helpful are appointments at these early stages where the student and I co-construct an outline and work together on developing a thesis statement.” Sometimes students may not know how to start planning their writing. By working with a writing tutor, , getting started can be easier and less intimidating.

There are writing tutors for both undergraduate and graduate students who can help students synthesize and develop their thesis statements, cite and reference, meet deadlines, and improve their editing strategies. For graduate students, writing tutors can help with source integration, reference management and organization of ideas in, complex writing tasks like theses and dissertations.

As students advance in university, writing assignments tend to become more frequent and complex. The ALC’s writing tutors can help students adjust to increased expectations in their writing courses. Levacque remarks that “More experienced university students who have not had to do a lot of writing in earlier years of their degree also frequently seek out writing tutors for assistance, with nursing students being a particularly notable cohort of this sort.” Learning to write is an ongoing process, and both new and experienced writers can benefit from meeting with a tutor.

For all students, an outside reader can provide important feedback on their writing. “As a student, I would almost always have a family member read over my papers for clarity, flow, and proofing errors that I might gloss over while revising independently,” recalls Levacque. “I know that many students don’t have that advantage, and campus-based tutoring that is free at the point of service helps to make for a more equitable academic environment where all students can have an informed second set of eyes on their paper.”

Students can make up to two appointment per week with a writing tutor through the ALC tutoring platform

Some areas in which a writing tutor may help students

• Organizing ideas for a paper;
• Understanding the assignment;
• Setting up a writing schedule;
• Planning and outlining;
• Paraphrasing and synthesizing;
• Editing and revision strategies;
• Referencing and citing.

What can students do to improve their writing skills before and after seeing a tutor

• Organization is key! Make clear, detailed outlines
• When researching, note down more than you think you may need. You never know when extra information will come in handy.
• Plan and schedule so that you have time to write. Always allow more time than you think you need.

Interested in becoming a tutor? The ALC hosts regular tutor training workshops to help prepare students to become writing tutors and help their peers. This training also counts towards Experience Record recognition.

The ALC and can be reached by phone at 204-480-1481 or by e-mail at academic_learning[at]umanitoba[dot]ca and at the Bannatyne Reception Desk, S211 Medical Services Building at the Bannatyne Campus.

Although tutors often intuitively use effective strategies during their appointments, Tutor Training can significantly improve the way a tutor thinks and interacts with students.

Tutor Training facilitator and Academic Learning Centre instructor, Tim Podolsky, says, “Getting training is the best way for tutors to improve their knowledge and understanding of best practices when it comes to tutoring.”

Participants benefit by improving critical thinking and communication skills. In addition, says Podolsky, “Participants develop an awareness of the role of a tutor, the phases of a tutoring session, using scaffolding strategies and promoting independence, increasing meta-cognition, working with students from different cultural backgrounds, and promoting academic integrity.”

Tutors who attend training and complete the assigned activities also earn recognition on their Experience Record.

The Academic Learning Centre’s Tutor Training is designed to improve the overall quality of tutoring on campus and has been provided since 2004 to a wide variety of tutoring programs at the University of Manitoba, including tutors from Disability Services, ACCESS programs, Aboriginal Focus Programs, the ALC Writing Tutor Program, ALC Content Tutors, Bison Sport Plus, Campus Life, UMES, UM Peers, and the U1 Mentorship Program have taken part in previous training sessions.

The Academic Learning Centre offers students a variety of academic support services.
Find other tutor training sessions, Academic Success Workshops and Academic Learning Centre resources online.

The Academic Learning Centre will be providing Tutor Training on-campus this year before classes start on August 24^th from 1:00-4:30 p.m. Tutor Training is free and open to all UM students. Registration is available at Tutor Training Registration (August 24th).

The Academic Learning Centre’s Tutor Training is designed to improve the overall quality of tutoring on campus and has been provided since 2004 to a wide variety of tutoring programs at the University of Manitoba. Participants benefit by learning about the role of a tutor and the tutoring cycle and by improving critical thinking and communication skills. Tutors who attend training and complete the assigned activities also earn recognition on their Experience Record.  

Although tutors often intuitively use effective strategies during their appointments, tutor training can significantly improve the way a tutor thinks and interacts with students. Investing time in tutor training will improve the overall quality of tutoring on campus. The ALC has been providing tutor training on the UM campus since spring 2004. Tutors from Disability Services, ACCESS programs, Aboriginal Focus Programs, the ALC Writing Tutor Program, ALC Content Tutors, Bison Sport Plus, Campus Life, UMES, UM Peers, and the U1 Mentorship Program have taken part in previous training sessions.

The Academic Learning Centre offers students a variety of academic support services.

Find other tutor training sessions and Academic Learning Centre resources.