Learn more about our Work-Study Tutoring through the Quick Guide below!

Welcome, Work-Study Tutors! 

This guide is designed to help you succeed in your role as a Work-Study (WS) tutor with Step Up. Whether you are brand new to Step Up or already working with students, you can use this as a quick reference whenever you have questions.
 

Your Role

As a Work Study tutor, you play a critical role in supporting students and families. Your main responsibilities include:

• Being matched with students and building supportive relationships with both students and their families.
• Scheduling two sessions per week per student for mentorship and academic support.
• Communicating proactively with families and Step Up staff.
• Working with matched families to build a weekly tutoring schedule that is consistent and allows you to use as much of your award allocation as possible without exceeding it.  

Attendance 

Consistent tutoring is key to student success. As a Step Up tutor, you commit to:

Maintaining a consistent schedule of two tutoring sessions per week: 

• You must commit to two tutoring sessions per week with each of your students. 
• Each session lasts at least 45 min utes.
• We will do our best to match you with students that have similar availability as you after school on weekdays, and provide a suggested meeting schedule.  Ultimately though, the schedule is up to you and the family to set and coordinate.
• We encourage you to proactively discuss what two days of the week works best for you and your student’s family, and reschedule accordingly.  We strongly recommend regularly scheduled sessions be kept on weekdays because they have been shown to be more consistent.

Proactively communicating about making up any missed sessions: 

• If you or your student need to miss a single session, please reach out to the student’s family to schedule a makeup session.
• If you or your student need to take a planned absence of a week or more, please communicate with the tutor support team and your student’s family to choose whether to pause tutoring or to have a substitute during your absence. 
  • If you decide on asking for a substitute, submit a substitute request using the substitute request form.  Please note that about 9 out of 10 sub requests are filled, but a sub is not guaranteed.  If one is available you’ll get a message introducing you and your family to them before the first session; if no such message is received they’ll need to pause sessions until you return.

Consistent absences or communication delays: If we see that you haven’t met with or spoken to a family in two consecutive weeks and you haven’t provided notice of why, your student may be reassigned to a new tutor.  This is to make sure students are receiving the consistent help they need.    

Student No Shows

Sometimes life happens and students miss a session without notifying you. If this occurs:

• Wait in the session for at least 15 minutes and remain available during that time.
• Use the time to reach out to the student’s guardian to confirm whether they will join or if rescheduling is necessary.
• If the student still does not arrive after 15 minutes, you may log off.

Timesheet Tracking: You may log 30 minutes for a no-show session but must notify Step Up staff if the same student has no showed three or more times.

Timesheets 

What You Can Log On Your Timesheet:

1. Tutoring Time

• You can log the time spent tutoring a student through the Learning Portal. Please note sessions should only occur through the learning portal.
• Both the student and tutor must be present and actively participating in order for the session to be eligible.
• You may log time for the full length of each session.
  
   

2. Prep Time

• Up to 30 minutes of prep time can be logged for the first session with each new student.
• Up to 15 minutes of prep time can be logged for each session after the first, as long as the student attends.
• Prep time includes reviewing curriculum and materials and communicating with the student/family in preparation for the session.
  
   

3. Initial Training

• The initial training you receive when you first join Step Up Tutoring can be logged for up to 5 hours.

4. Other Timesheet Policies and Procedures

• Timesheets should be turned in on your college/universities specific platform on or before the deadline to avoid processing and payment delays.
• Please be sure to fill out all relevant fields on the timesheet, blank or missing information may delay processing.
• Please add your sessions to your timesheet on a daily basis. It is important that timesheets reflect accurate in and out times for each session. 
• As a reminder, you can only work 8 hours a day and 20 hours a week whilst class is in session. If you are in jeopardy of going into overtime, we ask that you reschedule your session for the day. 
• If you are sick or need to take a personal day off, please reach out to your tutee’s guardian to reschedule your session. Step Up Tutoring does not pay students out of pocket, we ask that you do not add these days to your timesheet. 
• It is your responsibility to track your work study award status and balance. If you are nearing the end of your initial allotted amount, you must notify us as soon as possible at workstudy@stepuptutoring.org. 
• Important note: supervisors review all submitted timesheets and cross-check with tutoring time tracked in the Learning Portal. Any abuse of time submitted or established timesheet policies will be flagged, your school will be notified and we will notify you on your eligibility to continue tutoring. 

Who to Contact for Support

If you run into questions or challenges, here’s who to reach out to.

Thank You!

These policies are here to help you succeed and get the most out of your Work-Study experience. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re unsure about anything — Step Up is here to support you.