Policies

The University Learning Center is UNCW’s “one-stop shop” for high-quality peer academic support. We are committed to being a vital part of UNCW students' education. Our academic support services are based on the principle that quality learning takes place when peers work together. We provide students various learning opportunities that complement the classroom experience and, in collaboration with our campus partners, we provide our peer educators with a valuable pre-professional experience.

The ULC supports the development of learning skills and strategies, encouraging student confidence in lifelong success.

The ULC offers free academic support to all current UNCW students.

Students who miss ULC appointments negatively affect availability. For this reason, we adhere to the following attendance policy for all appointments (in-person and online).

Appointment Attendance Policy and Expectations

• Attend all scheduled appointments. Arrive on time and come prepared.
• If you're going to be more than 10 minutes late, contact the ULC by calling 910-962-7857.
• If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so at least one business day in advance by calling or emailing the ULC Front Desk or by logging into our online appointment system. 
• Do NOT contact your tutor directly about changes to your appointments. For questions regarding scheduling, contact the ULC Front Desk.

Failure to adhere to the ULC Attendance Policy

Any appointment not cancelled according to the above guidelines will count as a missed appointment.

• First Miss: You will receive an email notification detailing the ULC attendance policy.
• Second Miss: You will receive another email notification detailing the ULC attendance policy. All upcoming appointments will be cancelled. The ability to schedule new appointments is unaffected.
• Third Miss: All upcoming appointments will be cancelled. You will be prevented from scheduling new appointments for the remainder of the semester. You can still use ULC drop-in services.

An irregular pattern of appointment cancellations, an unwillingness to engage in the learning process, or inappropriate behavior toward ULC staff will result in removal from all ULC services.

Students who wish to have their eligibility to schedule appointments reinstated must schedule a meeting with a ULC staff person. Call or email the front desk to schedule this meeting.

The University Learning Center offers peer academic support through a variety of services and programs.

Several ULC services provide the opportunity to schedule one-on-one or small group appointments. Any appointment scheduled with the ULC may be conducted in-person* or online via your UNCW Zoom account. Appointment services include Academic Mentoring, Tutoring, Study Skills consultations, and Writing consultations.

Appointments are not guaranteed. All appointments are first-come/first-served and dependent on peer educator availability.

Several ULC services provide the opportunity to “drop-in” (attend during any of the hours the service is offered) without having to make an appointment or register with the ULC. All drop-in ULC services are in-person only and no online alternative is offered. Drop-in services at the ULC include the STEM Lab, Study Sessions, Supplemental Instruction, and the Writing Lab.

* On rare occasions, a ULC peer educator may be temporarily unavailable for in-person appointments but still offering online appointments.

The ULC upholds and adheres to the UNCW Academic Honor Code.

All ULC peer educators review the Academic Honor Code and utilize the code as a guide when working with students.

As a matter of practice, the ULC trains our peer educators to presume that students do not intentionally engage in academic dishonesty, and to educate students about cheating, thereby discouraging academic dishonesty. We encourage all students to assume responsibility for their own work and take pride in their academic accomplishments.

ULC peer educators do not have comprehensive knowledge of each class and do not have ready access to all class materials (e.g. syllabus, assignments, etc.). It is therefore the student's responsibility to alert the peer educator to class guidelines and procedures.

Exams/Quizzes:

Students sometimes ask for help with problems or questions that have been assigned as part of a take-home examination or quiz. ULC peer educators are instructed to refuse help to students who request help with take-home exams or quizzes. ULC peer educators are trained to use similar samples to guide students through a problem-solving process, and then to ask the student to apply that process to their own work. Peer educators will not do graded work for students.

Graded Homework:

Students sometimes ask for help with problems that are part of graded homework assignments. ULC peer educators are trained to use similar samples to guide students through a problem-solving process, and then to ask the student to apply that process to their own work. Peer educators will not do graded work for students.

The ULC upholds and adheres to the UNCW Academic Honor Code, and Writing Services at the ULC particularly attends to the Honor Code’s guidance on plagiarism.

All ULC peer writing consultants are trained to use the Honor Code’s guidelines on plagiarism as a resource when working with student writing. Our peer writing consultants are trained to help students access resources on proper citation and documentation to avoid plagiarism.

ULC peer writing consultants work from a good faith assumption that students have not plagiarized and work with student writing as presented. When warranted, writing consultants will educate students about plagiarism.

Essay Exams:

Students sometimes ask for help with essays that have been assigned as part of a take-home examination or quiz. Peer writing consultants are instructed to refuse help to students who request help with take-home essay exams. Students who make appointments for take-home exams will be offered generalized writing support, without referencing the exam, on such topics as writing a thesis statement, constructing a paragraph, integrating evidence, or grammar conventions.

The ULC upholds and affirms the Seahawk Respect Compact. We expect everyone who utilizes any ULC service to do the same.

Individuals who engage in uncivil behavior will be asked to leave. Examples of uncivil behavior include, but are not limited to:

• an unwillingness to engage in the learning process,
• inappropriate or disruptive behavior while utilizing a ULC service,
• rude or disrespectful behavior toward ULC staff or other students utilizing a ULC service.

When any uncivil behavior is egregious and/or a pattern of uncivil behavior occurs, the ULC reserves the right to remove the individual from the ULC and its services.