Roles and Responsibilities of Tutors

Contributed by:

Jonathan James Fri, Jan 07, 2022 09:39 PM UTC

In general, the role of a tutor is to be responsible to the Course Coordinators for the provision of tutorial support and guidance to students throughout the semester and to facilitate student achievement at an appropriate academic standard in the relevant course(s).

The tutor plays a critical role in managing student expectations for the course. Students who enroll for courses at our University have made a significant personal commitment in terms of their time, energy, and resources. They want to succeed in their course, and therefore they have high expectations of the role their tutor will play in helping them achieve that goal.

1. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF TUTORS
Duties of a Tutor
In general, the role of a tutor is to be responsible to the Course Coordinators for the
provision of tutorial support and guidance to students throughout the semester and to
facilitate student achievement at an appropriate academic standard in the relevant
The tutor plays a critical role in managing student expectations for the course. Students
who enrol for courses at our University have made a significant personal commitment in
terms of their time, energy and resources. They want to succeed in their course, and
therefore they have high expectations of the role their tutor will play in helping them
achieve that goal.
Students can expect:
• That they are at all times treated by you with respect and sympathy.
• That their assignments are marked promptly and with care, and that your
comments are constructive and detailed in order that they may learn from the
comments and improve their future performance.
• That tutorials, day sessions, etc, are properly planned, prepared and
implemented by you promptly to ensure the sessions are always a valuable
experience for the students.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TUTOR
The following are the main areas of tutor roles and responsibilities:
1. Face-to-Face Contact with Students
This covers tutorials, day sessions, laboratory work or similar. There are five tutorial
sessions for each course. The tutorial conduct is for the tutor to:
• Facilitate students to comprehend and apply the newly learned content
intelligently.
• Interpret and implement the teaching-learning guidelines prepared for each
tutorial session by the Course Coordinator (CC) as spelt out in the Tutor Guide for
the course, and to conduct the necessary activities within the time span allocated.
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2. • Assist students to become independent and collaborative learners.
• Assist and train students in developing appropriate study skills (guidance on
reading and note-taking, skills on using the Internet, computer assisted learning
programmes, etc) in order for them to complete the course effectively.
2. Telephone Counselling
Tutors are required to set aside three time slots of an hour each every week to receive
telephone request for guidance and counseling from the students in the tutorial group.
Tutors have the discretion to decline requests for assistance outside of the declared
time slots. Please refer to the Tutor Guide for further clarifications.
3. Participate and moderate online discussions and forums
Teaching and learning do not stop at the end of a tutorial session. WOU maintains a
Learning Management System (LMS) or WawasanLearn where each course has a web
presence. The CC would have prepared the web contents and suggested discussion
forums for the course. As a tutor, you are to monitor the forum and discussion threads of
your tutorial group, and intervene where appropriate when a request for clarification or
elaboration is posted in the ‘tutorial forum’. When students email you for assistance, you
are to respond accordingly in a timely manner. While it is not feasible to respond
immediately, you are to exercise discretion to acknowledge the request as soon as
4. Marking and Commenting on Student Assignments
The Assignments (normally termed the TMA) are the main means by which students are
helped to progress through the course. The tutor’s specific responsibilities are:
• To mark assignments according to specific marking schemes from the CC.
• To ensure that all comments are constructive and analytical and offer specific
advice on how students might improve their performance in future assignments.
• To return the TMA to WOU, duly marked within the period specified which, unless
otherwise notified, will be ten (10) days. [Note: e-submission of some courses are
now in force, and tutors will be guided on e-submission marking and return of
marked TMA during tutor training sessions or with instruction from the University.]
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3. 5. Student Progress
The tutor’s specific responsibilities are:
• To use the tutorial and assignment systems to monitor fully the progress of
individual students, by the maintenance of proper records of completed
assignments, grades, attendance at laboratory sessions, etc.
• To be aware of the facilities available at the Learning Centre to help students with
special needs and to ensure that students have every opportunity to complete
their course successfully.
• To give advice on the choice of further courses.
6. Other Responsibilities
Other responsibilities of a tutor are:
• To reinforce and communicate the need for timely submission of TMA by
students.
• To participate in the running of day, weekend sessions as and when necessary,
and to provide feedback on these activities to the CC.
• To contribute to the evaluation of courses when requested by the Dean of the
School.
• To attend and participate in tutor training sessions and other meetings as and
when the University requires both before and during a course. All appointed
tutors will have to attend the Tutor Induction and Training Programme.
• To keep up-to-date all email, telephone and other informal contact with students.
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4. Remunerations (Diploma Level courses ~ commencing July 2017 intake onwards)
Tutors are paid for the following tasks:
• For conducting face-to-face tutorials. There are 5 x 2 hours tutorial slots where
tutors are paid RM100 an hour.
• Tutors are also paid for marking Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs) and there are
(2) TMAs in any one semester. The rate is RM5 per student assignment.
• WOU will pay RM100 per semester for tutors providing Internet related support to
students in each group.
• Tutors will be paid a subsidy of RM50 per semester for tutor-initiated telephone
counselling for each group conducted.
Remunerations (Undergraduate courses)
Tutors are paid for the following tasks:
• For conducting face-to-face tutorials. There are 5 x 2 hours tutorial slots where
tutors are paid RM125 an hour.
• Tutors are also paid for marking Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs) and there are
(2) TMAs in any one semester. The rate is RM5 per student assignment.
• WOU will pay RM100 per semester for tutors providing Internet related support to
students in each group.
• Tutors will be paid a subsidy of RM50 per semester for tutor-initiated telephone
counselling for each group conducted.
Remunerations (Postgraduate courses)
Tutors are paid for the following tasks:
• For conducting face-to-face tutorials. There are 5 x 2 hours tutorial slots where
tutors are paid RM200 an hour. This payment also covers the tutor responsibility
for facilitating the respective videoconferencing sessions for their course.
• Tutors are also paid for marking Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs) and there are
two (2) TMAs in any one semester. The rate is RM5 per student assignment.
• WOU will pay RM100 per semester for tutors providing Internet related support to
students in each group.
• Tutors will be paid a subsidy of RM50 per semester for tutor-initiated telephone
counselling for each group conducted.
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