Students can access support services provided by the COMPASS Centre; these include psychosocial support in the form of developmental advising and counselling as well as academic support in the form of tutorial services, study skills seminars and semester loans of selected texts.
Developmental Advising provides psychosocial support facilitating students’ balancing their personal lives with their academic and career goals. Students are aided in negotiating the challenges of the tertiary level environment— the primary focus being supporting students’ academic success. The Developmental Advisor works with the student as well as the student’s academic advisors/ lecturers.
Each semester, the Centre offers free seminars in time management, textbook reading, memorisation techniques, note taking skills, managing math anxiety. Seminars may be booked by lecturers for a group of students or individual students may register for them, as they are advertised.
Each semester, the Centre provides term loans of textbooks for pre-college mathematics and English courses. All registered COSTAATT students enrolled in a pre-college course are eligible to receive these semester-long loans which are available by the second week of each semester. Loan services begin at 9:00 am and end at 6 p.m. at the COMPASS Centre, Bretton Hall annex.
The Tutorial Centre is an extension of the Compensatory Programmes and Academic Support Services (COMPASS), which provides free instructional support to the entire college student body irrespective of age, programme or campus. At the tutorial centres, students can enjoy hour-long sessions working in a supportive environment (individual or small group) where proven methods of instruction are applied to enhance learning.
Full-time and part-time COSTAATT lecturers with a master’s degree in their subject area are available at scheduled times which are posted outside the tutorial centres and at strategic points on the various campuses.
As long as you are a student currently enrolled in a credit or a non- credit course at COSTAATT and you require additional help with coursework, you are eligible to use our services. Currently, student demand for tutorial support has been mainly for precollege mathematics and English courses; however support is also offered in a number of College-level courses.
Please do your class assignments BEFORE your tutoring sessions and come prepared with questions or problems you want to review. Bring with you any relevant materials (textbooks, notes, homework, past tests, etc.). Tutors will not correct your homework, edit papers, or give you answers. Tutors can help you review your own work and can explain concepts that are difficult for you; but they will not re-create a class lecture that you have missed.
Tutorial services are available Monday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., depending on the availability of tutors. Walk-in assistance, compatible with scheduled availability of tutors, is also provided.
The policy is to always match student attendance with tutor availability; and so once you make an appointment, a tutor will be notified in advance to be available for you. Therefore, if you cannot make the appointment, you must contact us either by telephoning or e-mailing COMPASSCentre@ costaatt.edu.tt informing us of your absence in time for us to notify the tutor.
Tutoring helps students build confidence in handling academic work and in negotiating the learning process. Working mainly in small groups, tutors can help students:
Tutorial centres are located in the City, Sangre Grande, South and Tobago Campuses. Upon request and depending on the availability of tutors, tutorial support can also be provided at other sites.
Free seminars in time management, textbook reading, memorisation techniques, note taking skills, managing math anxiety are available each semester. Seminars may be booked by lecturers for a group of students or individual students may register for them, once they are advertised.
You can access tutorial services either through referral or walk-in request. Do not wait until it is too late (e.g. the day before a test/deadline or just before final examinations to get help). Either a tutor may not be available or you will need more time to prepare or complete your work. To ensure that there is a tutor waiting to serve you, please make appointments beforehand.