Tutoring Center

You can make an appointment through our website (click one of the “make an appointment” buttons at the top of this webpage), by calling us at 952-358-8624, or by stopping by our front desk in College Services 2190.   

Tutoring sessions are 50 minutes long and can be booked on campus in C2190 or online via Zoom. 

Not always! For on-campus tutoring sessions, we take walk-ins according to tutor availability. For virtual sessions, we generally require an appointment, but you can call our front desk at 952-358-8624 to see if we have a tutor available to meet you online at that time.  

When you schedule a virtual appointment, a confirmation email will be sent to your Normandale email address. This confirmation email will contain a link to your tutor’s Zoom room. Click on this link to meet your tutor at the scheduled time. 

It is helpful if you join the Zoom from a device where you can also log into D2L. This way you can share your screen with your tutor to show them any relevant course materials. 

If your tutor is not already in the Zoom room when you join, please wait a few minutes. They may be finishing a prior session or logging into their computer. If they do not arrive after five minutes, please call our front desk at 952-358-8624 to let us know that you are waiting. 

You are limited to one session per tutor, per class, per day. That means you can work with multiple tutors in the same day, and you can take advantage of tutoring every day of the semester, if your schedule and tutor availability allow. 

Unfortunately, we are only open during the day on weekdays, and we are not open on weekends. When we are closed, you can receive tutoring support from Tutor.com, which is available online 24/7. You can find more information about Tutor.com further down this webpage. 

You can also refer to the Tutoring Resources on this webpage. 

Our tutors would love to help you with this! Instead of choosing a specific class in the appointment booking process, you can select the option named “Academic Skills for Success.” This appointment type can be used to talk through anything from learning how to use D2L, to figuring out how to print on campus, and even reviewing your syllabi and schedules so that you can build a plan for the semester.  

When you select one of the “make an appointment” buttons at the top of this page, the next step will be to choose which course you are looking for help with. Once you select a course, the list of tutors who can support you will appear below. If you don’t see any names, that means we don’t have any tutors who can help with that class right now. When this happens, we recommend utilizing Tutor.com, which you can find more information about further down this webpage.  

We strive to support as many courses as possible – currently, we can help with over 75 courses. We have many tutors for the courses that most students encounter during their time at Normandale, such as College Algebra, Introduction to Statistics, and Introductory Chemistry. We are less likely to have tutors for courses and subjects that are less common, like Anthropology or very advanced Computer Science and Engineering. 

Nope! We are not here to do your work for you. To maintain academic integrity, we cannot work with you directly on graded assignments, unless explicitly permitted by an instructor. If you are looking for support with a homework assignment, your tutor will find or generate similar examples or problems that you can work through together.  

Your tutor will use a variety of tutoring strategies to understand your foundational knowledge and support you in your learning journey. Our goal is to empower you and help you gain confidence in your own abilities, so that you can continue making progress on graded assignments after you meet with us.  

You don’t need to be struggling or feel like you’ve fallen behind in order to benefit from tutoring support! Engaging in discussion about course topics with a peer who has already completed the course can be highly impactful to your learning, whether or not you are having trouble with the material. You can come see us at any time, for instance: 

• After you receive the syllabus and schedule for all your courses, and you want to get organized or talk through review material before the semester gets underway 

• When you’re having trouble grasping a specific concept in class, or if you’re struggling with a homework assignment 

• At any stage of studying for a quiz or exam; whether you have no idea how to start studying, or you’re feeling confident about most topics and just want to talk through the complexities of the course material 

You are not alone. Asking for help can be uncomfortable, and we know that. All our tutors and professional staff know what it’s like to be unsure of yourself, and we view asking for help as a sign of strength and savvy resource-seeking. We are here to meet you where you are and make sure you feel welcome, respected, and valued in our space.  

You’ve got this, and we’ve got you! 

While there are many tools out there now that can do your homework for you or help you study, our tutors offer human connection and an understanding of your context at Normandale. Also, our tutors will respect your academic integrity and strive to ensure that you really understand the material you’re studying. 

Isn't it boring to study with only a computer for a companion? Humans bring empathy and joy to learning. Try it, and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it!