Academic Resources

The Mathematics Learning Center

Offering free tutoring for all mathematics courses as well as self-paced courses with lecture and testing options, the UT Martin Mathematics Learning Center has been in operation since 1970.

The Reading Center

The Reading Center is a collaborative effort of the Student Success Center and the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. It is located in Gooch Hall, second floor, rooms 226 & 227. For those students who wish to increase their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency, we offer Reading 100 to assist in the transition from high school to college. This instruction is designed for students who scored 22 or below on the reading portion of the ACT test. Additional small group and individual tutoring is available for those who need further support. Our mission is to increase reading, writing, and critical thinking skills for a successful college career.

The Writing Center

The Writing Center is open to all students, and most students come on a drop-in basis. Each year, there are approximately 10,000 student visits to the Writing Center. Center assistants, working more specifically with students than with individual papers, help students become better editors and writers.

In addition to individualized tutoring, the Writing Center holds two writing workshops each week, hosts Talk Time (a special outreach activity designed to give non-native speakers an opportunity to practice language skills), and offers literary roundtable discussions, basic skills review, computer assistance, and general orientation sessions for First-Year Initiative groups and other classes.

Class Schedule 101

• Academic Calendar: Term-specific information for each semester, including dates, deadlines, and university holidays.
• Catalog: Online University publication listing all programs of study, degree requirements, course descriptions, and academic policies and procedures.
• Degree Requirements: Components that make up a degree, including General Education, Major, Minor, and Elective courses. Each degree has different requirements, which can be found on the online University catalog. All bachelor’s degrees require a minimum of 120 credit hours.
• General Education (Gen Ed): Set of core courses that must be completed by all degree-seeking students. These classes are designed to provide students with a diverse and interdisciplinary knowledge base that complements and supports their academic major.
• Credit Hour: Value assigned to each course depending on the amount of time spent in class each week. Generally, one credit is assigned for each 50-minute lecture hour per week. Students must enroll in 12 or more credit hours each semester to be full-time.
• FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99.
• Syllabus: a summary outline of a class. You will receive a syllabus at the beginning of each class; it will have the rules for the class, the expected outcomes, and a calendar of assignments.
• Canvas: If you take online classes or hybrid classes, 50% online & 50% in-person, you will use Canvas to access your classes. 100% in-person classes will also appear on your Canvas. Each of your classes will be listed on your Canvas Dashboard. You will be able to submit assignments, check due dates, and email the professor and classmates. You can access Canvas through your UT Martin Portal.
• Portal: When you are on the UT Martin website and you login, the page that appears after logging in is called your Portal. Only faculty, staff, and students have access. From the portal you can access your email, your dining and housing plan, your Canvas courses, your financial statement, and other UTM information.
• Full-time: For undergraduate students 12 or more credit hours is considered full time. For graduate students 9 or more credit hours is considered full time.
• Part-time: If a student is taking less than 12 credit hours, they are considered Part-time.
• Course Number: The 3-digit number indicating what class you are taking, i.e., ENG 111 or ENG 112
• Electives: These are classes that do not directly relate to your major or general education requirements. Your major may allow for you to take electives to gain enough credits to graduate.
• Flight Plan: This is the site where you keep track of all your graduation progress. You can also see what your options are for other majors.
• Course Title: This is the title of the class you are taking. For example, you may sign up for ENG 250. The course title however is, British Literary Traditions.
• Course Abbreviation: This is the abbreviated title of a course. You may sign up for ‘Pop Culture US History’, but the course abbreviation is HIST 403.
• Co-requisite: Course that must be taken at the same time as another specified course.
• CRN (Course Reference Number): Five-digit number identifying a specific course section when registering.
• Hold: Prevents a student from registering and/or receiving their transcript until the issue is resolved. Examples include: unpaid bills, parking tickets, and failure to schedule and attend a mandatory academic advising meeting (such as students with 30 or less credit hours, new transfers, or veterans).
• Prerequisite: Specific course or requirement that must be completed before taking the next sequential course.
• Priority Registration: Designated time period for students to register for the next semester based on credit hours.
• Labs: Many classes require that you take a lab during the same semester. Examples include GEOS 110, PLSC 341, and MATH 100. All these classes have a required lab. You must sign up for the lab as well as the lecture. You will notice that the lab counts for 0 credits. But the lecture class counts for 4 credits. The lab credit is included with the lecture credits.
• Academically Eligible: In order to keep your eligibility and remain a student, you must keep a minimum of a 2.00 GPA.