Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

The SCAA's hours can be viewed here.

All SCAA programs and services are available to currently-enrolled CSUEB students at no cost.

Be sure to download the Nimbus Learning app and sign in with your NetID and password. Select the service you're looking to get support from, and you'll be shown available tutors/coaches and session times for you to book. For assistance, please call us at 510-885-3674 or email SCAA@csueastbay.edu to connect with a member of our Front Desk Team.

If you are unable to make your appointment, please be sure to cancel within the Nimbus Learning app. Your tutor or coach will contact you to assist with rescheduling. For any further assistance, please email our Front Desk Team at scaa@csueastbay.edu or call us directly at 510-885-3674.

Please review the SCAA Policies webpage for important details regarding the maximum number of cancellations or no-shows permitted.

  1. You may consider utilizing NetTutor through Canvas. More information is available on the Student Online Learning Support and Services webpage.
  2. Check out our Resources for Students page, which contains dozens of tutor-made handouts that address a variety of commonly-asked student questions.

Yes, the SCAA offers tutoring and coaching for currently-enrolled students, including graduate students.

Tutoring FAQs

The SCAA offers peer-to-peer Subject Tutoring for a number of courses across the curriculum as well as peer-to-peer Writing Tutoring. Please visit the Peer Tutoring webpage to view the full list of supported courses.

Please contact us at SCAA@csueastbay.edu to describe your academic support needs.

You may also consider utilizing NetTutor through Canvas. More information is available on the Student Online Learning Support and Services webpage.

Writing Support FAQs

We recommend that you make frequent appointments with SCAA writing tutors, so that you can pick up tips and guidelines gradually and apply those to all of your writing assignments. Keep in mind that writing is a lifelong process. Be patient with yourself.

SCAA writing tutors can help with any stage of the writing process: gathering ideas, organizing thinking, writing a rough draft, or polishing a final draft. We recommend that you come in at least three to four days before a due date. Coming in the day before or the day of may not be as productive.

Yes, we can—however, our tutors' interpretation of the prompt may be different from your professor's. We may recommend clarifying with your professor if there are any doubts about their requirements.

Make sure to have the prompt or assignment handy, and anything you may have started writing. Don’t worry about not having started yet, if that is the case. If you are writing about certain texts, it’s best to have those available as well. You might also want to think about what you would like to focus on: organization, analysis, sentence structure and mechanics, citations, etc.

Yes. Our tutors are trained to meet you where you are and accommodate their support to your learning habits and preferences.

We recommend that you remain open to making significant revisions and not just surface-level improvements to maximize your time with your tutor. You can leave whenever you feel you have gotten all that you need. You can also select 30- or 60-min appointment timeframes, so consider opting for the shorter availability slot, if desired.

The writing tutor will help you recognize weaknesses and issues in your writing and guide you to doing your own revisions. Our hope is that you will gain skills and confidence in writing that extends beyond an individual appointment. Tutors will point out grammatical errors and explain concepts, but they do not edit for you. Tutors look at global issues, such as organization, analysis, and adherence to the prompt.

Absolutely. Sometimes it helps to get another pair of eyes on your writing, to make sure that you are following the assignment and that you are expressing your views as effectively as possible.

Writing tutors can review a rubric and other expectations of the professor, and give you feedback on how well your response seems to adhere to those expectations, but they do not represent the professor, nor can they guarantee you a particular grade.

We recommend that you have a 1-on-1 conversation with your professor. Only they can explain directly what they are looking for. A writing tutor will be able to look over your writing and help you identify areas for growth, which would likely set you on a positive path for all future writing, but this does take time.

Formerly referred to as the "Online Writing Lab," asynchronous paper review has migrated to the Nimbus Learning appointments system. Within the app, you can opt for an asynchronous review to receive tutor feedback through the app chat.

Yes. Please contact our Front Desk team at SCAA@csueastbay.edu to request an appointment verification for your professor. You can also drop by the SCAA for assistance with this.

Coaching FAQs

During your first Peer Academic Coaching session, a coach will meet with you to go over coaching policies and to set goals for the semester. In the following in-depth sessions, the same coach will check in with you about how classes are going and help you stay on track to reaching your goals. Coaches do this by asking reflective questions and helping you create weekly plans for homework assignments and tests.

Coaches differ from tutors because they do not help students with specific subjects. Instead, coaches work with students to help them gain essential skills for college and beyond. This includes time management, planning and prioritization, communication with faculty, and use of on-campus resources.