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I am interested in being an America Reads or America Counts Tutor. What next?
1) Determine whether or not you are eligible. To be eligible you must have Federal Work-Study in your financial aid award. If you do not have FWS you may still volunteer as a tutor, we are just not able to pay you. Check on your FWS status by connecting to Banner Web.
2) Review the list of Overview Training sessions being held at the various colleges. You can attend any session that fits your schedule. The training is about an hour and a half long and you will be paid for your time by the Student Employment Coordinator. The training is very useful because you will learn what should and should not be expected of you as a tutor as well as valuable tutoring information. Later in the semester is an Extended Training Workshop (paid) that is not mandatory, but useful to the serious tutor who plans to continue in the program or go on in the field of teaching.
3) Look for a tutoring position. If you have a vehicle, consider a program in one of Northampton's neighboring towns since they have a need for tutors, but fewer applicants due to the transportation issue. You can find a listing of all sites interested in tutors online on the Five College America Reads website. Arrange for an interview with the school or agency.
4) When hired, or even before you apply for a position, obtain an America Reads/America Counts Tutoring contract from the Student Employment Coordinator at vschumac@smith.edu. You cannot begin working until this contract is completed and signed by you and your hiring supervisor then turned in to the SEO.
5) Familiarize yourself with the payment procedures. First, you will need to be hired by the site on JobX which allows Payroll to build your position for you onto BannerWeb. You will then complete BannerWeb timesheets on a bi-weekly basis and your supervisor will approve and submit them online.
6) If you do not obtain all the work-study hours you need by tutoring, you can obtain the other hours you require at a job on-campus. This does not break the 'one job per student' policy because your two positions would simply provide the equivalent of one 'full-time' job with their combined hours.
7) Work-Study ends on the last day of classes in May, and so you must cease tutoring at that time (or, if you continue, do so as a volunteer). There are some Reflection Sessions that will be held toward the end of the semester and we encourage you to attend because your feedback is very important to the future of the program.
Thank you for your interest in this program. Smith College proudly has the highest number of tutors participating in this program of any of the five colleges despite the fact that it is not the largest school. This program has had a tremendous impact on the success of the schoolchildren involved and you should be proud to be a part of this extraordinary effort.
E-mail vschumac@smith.edu or come in to the office immediately when you are hired as a tutor to obtain the program contract and agreement forms. Under no circumstances should you ever be working in an individual's home. The program is limited to schools and agencies serving children and Smith students with federal work-study.
Please think seriously about your schedule and other obligations before applying for these positions.
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