Peer Tutoring

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The Peer Tutoring Concept

As noted in the Belmont University catalog, the Peer Tutoring Program 'provides students the opportunity to serve as a link between the professor and students in the class.' Peer tutors are different than the graduate school model of teaching assistants, in that peer tutors are still considered to be students in the class. However, peer tutors have typically already taken the course in which they are peer tutoring, and therefore they can serve as a learning resource for students in the class.

Peer tutors are selected by invitation of the professor, and the professor and peer tutor collaboratively structure the role of the peer tutor according to the needs of the course.
Please note that peer tutors do not grade or keep other class records.

See below for details on how to create sections for peer tutors and register them for class.

Receiving Credit for Peer Tutoring

Students may receive general elective credit for peer tutoring by registering for PTS 2920, PTS 3920, or PTS 4920.

They may register for 1-3 credit hours. This roughly translates into 50 hours of work per credit hour. For example, a student who signs up for 2 credit hours of PTS 3920 might work 100 hours during that semester. The following semester, s/he might register for 1 credit hour in PTS 4920 and put in fewer hours. The peer tutor faculty supervisor sets these hours based on the needs of the course.

A student may take no more than 9 credit hours of peer tutoring in his/her college experience (3 credits maximum of PTS 2920, 3920, 4920).

Students who wish to receive elective credit towards their majors or minors must do their peer tutoring through a 'seminar' or 'independent study' course within their program of study.

Creating Peer Tutor Sections

The Teaching Center has worked closely with the Registrar's Office to establish a system that should work smoothly for both faculty and those in the Registrar's Office. Peer tutor faculty supervisors arrange their sections with the registrar prior to the start of the semester in which the peer tutor will be used. Banner must set up a separate section for each peer tutor.

For example, if there were to be multiple peer tutors with multiple instructors in multiple sections of ENG 1010, they cannot all be registered in the same section under one central faculty member. Each instructor of REL 1100 must have a separate peer tutoring section for each peer tutor. In other words, if an instructor were teaching 3 sections of REL 1100 with 3 different peer tutors, s/he would have 3 different sections of PTS 2920/3920/4920.

To facilitate this process, the registrar has asked that instructors email the following information directly to


Instructor's Name
Name and Number of the Course
Peer Tutor's Name
Peer Tutor's SSN
PTS 3920 or 4920
Number of Credit Hours

The Registrar's Office will then take care of setting up the sections and registering your peer tutor.

In order to prevent other students from logging onto Banner and enrolling in the PTS section, the Registrar sets the enrollment of each section at zero. As such, he'll need confirmation that the student has accepted the fact that s/he is entering the course. (In the past, there have been misunderstandings over the specifics of enrollment and disputes over credit hours charged, etc.)

To confirm their intention to enter the course, peer tutors should complete an Add form (available at Belmont Central) with the course number and number of credit hours and take it or send it to the registrar's office. With both the student's and instructor's signatures on the form, there should be no misunderstandings or confusion.

If you have any questions, please call Mike Pinter, Teaching Center Director, at ext. 5423.

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