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Tutorials

Tutorials are small groups of two to five students working closely with a faculty member on a common topic, project, or skill. Tutorials are student-generated projects, and like independent studies, ideas for tutorials typically follow from questions raised in a particular course. Students may collaborate on creative projects as well. Students work together with the instructor to formulate the structure of the tutorial, the details of which are described in the tutorial proposal and submitted to the Faculty Committee on Individualized Studies for review and approval. The tutorial group meets regularly throughout the semester, and students follow a common syllabus: all participants complete the same readings, write papers on similar topics, etc. At the end of the semester all students are evaluated by the instructor and assigned a letter grade (A through F).

 

Below is an outline of the process that students follow to set up a Tutorial. Because the students and the instructor are designing a course, students must begin this process a full semester in advance. Students should:

  • Obtain faculty adviser approval: Students should discuss with their faculty adviser the possibility of conducting a tutorial.
  • Carefully read the Tutorial Proposal Guidelines to learn about requirements and how to develop a proposal.
  • Refer to the Student Checklist to investigate the planning timeline for these steps.
  • Organize the student group: Identify all of the students (at least two, but no more than five, and at least one must be a Gallatin student) who will be participating in the tutorial.
  • Generate a basic idea: At least two students should work together to identify a problem or a question, a time period, a literary genre, a natural phenomenon, a philosophical theme, or a creative skill.
  • Identify an appropriate instructor (a student's faculty advisesr or a member of the Gallatin faculty or other NYU faculty), and contact the prospective instructor to propose the study and discuss the plans for the work
  • Complete and submit a Tutorial Proposal form: Each member of the tutorial must submit a proposal form for review and approval by each student's adviser, the tutorial instructor, and Gallatin's Faculty Committee on Individualized Studies. Please note that submitting a proposal does not guarantee approval.
  • Identify an alternate course to take in case the tutorial proposal is not approved


 

Tutorial Policies

  • Students are required to submit a Tutorial Proposal form by the published deadline listed for each semester. Students who cannot meet this deadline are advised to register for a classroom course in place of the independent study, and may submit the proposal for a future semester.
  • Individualized projects (Tutorial and Independent Study) may be conducted during the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms. No individualized projects are allowed in January term.
  • Generally, the work for a tutorial should be comparable to a graduate-level classroom course. See the Tutorial Proposal Guidelines for specific instructions regarding requirements.The specific format of the work will be determined by the students and the instructor who will evaluate it. They may choose several short papers, or a longer paper written in sections as the work progresses and depending on the nature of the study, video productions, paintings or music productions may be appropriate. The work for the study should be submitted according to the schedule of due dates agreed upon at the outset, and as with a classroom course, late work may be penalized.
  • Tutorial groups must include at least two students, but no more than a total of five students. At least two members of a Tutorial group must be Gallatin students.
  • Only instructors employed by NYU can be the instructor for a Gallatin Tutorial.  All instructors must be located at the Washington Square campus.
  • Tutorials may be taken for two, three or four credits. The number of units determines the number of readings and amount of work assigned. See the Tutorial Proposal Guidelines for specific requirements.
  • All students enrolled in the same tutorial must register for the same number of units and follow the same syllabus.
  • Tutorials are graded with letter grades (A through F).
  • Meeting spaces for a Tutorial are identified and secured by the students and/or instructor. Please note that personal spaces (i.e. an apartment or dorm room) are not suitable. It is recommended that the instructor or one of the students book an NYU space through Bobst Library.
  • The Gallatin program is designed for a careful balance between independent and classroom experience. Graduate students may therefor take a maximum of 12 credits of Individualized Projects. This includes any combination of Independent Study, Tutorial, Internship and Private Lesson credit. If a student receives credit for Course Equivalency, this will decrease that student's allowance of Individualized Project credit.
  • Students enrolled in another NYU school might be permitted to join an existing Gallatin Tutorial. In all cases, students enrolled in other NYU schools should contact Kathe Ann Joseph for more information.
  • Students are expected to adhere to the proposal submission deadline.The completed tutorial proposal consists of:
  1. adviser’s approval
  2. instructor’s approval
  3. completed proposal form
  4. description of the study
  5. readings
  6. written work to be evaluated
  7. syllabus

 


 

Quick Links

Tutorial Proposal Guidelines, Graduate
Student Checklist
Individualized Projects Deadlines