Tutoring Info & Rules
In order to ensure a smooth operation of my tutorials, I have compiled all relevant information, as well as rules that must be followed by all students receiving tutoring!
Making Payments
Any due payments can be sent to my e-transfer address gbobotsi@uwaterloo.ca.
For e-transfers please use:
Security Question: “What course are you tutoring me in?”
Security Answer: Your course code no caps, no spaces
Students are allowed up to 2 weeks of tally-buildup or $200 in unpaid balances before having to submit a payment provided they’ve signed the promissory note below.
Tutor-Tutee Promissory Note
During the 1st session, students are asked to sign a promissory note, promising payment to the tutor for their time. The tutor also signs this document promising fair business practices. The document can be found below. Once signed it is valid for one academic term.
Rates
The Charging Scheme is updated every academic term (January 1st, May 1st, September 1st of each year). Below are the rates of the current academic term (FALL 2024)
Students can receive -3$/hour for each referral they introduce for receiving tutoring
- *The discount is honored only while the referral actively receives tutoring otherwise it becomes null
- **A maximum of 5 referrals is allowed per academic term
Time is measured from the moment the actual instruction begins, to the moment the instruction ends. Rounding is applied to the nearest 5 minutes.
Cancelation policy
There will be a charge incurred based on the time that a student and/or guardian cancel their scheduled session. The breakdown is outlined below.
No Charge
1/3 of the booked time @ the rate you would’ve been charged
1/2 of the booked time @ the rate you would’ve been charged
Full booked time @ the rate you would’ve been charged
Groups
Variable Rate
If you’re part of a group, the rate will change as people join/leave, and the session will be split into the appropriate parts each with the appropriate rate when calculating the final fee.
Example: You are part of a group of 2 that meets from 7pm to 9pm. Your partner has to go at 8pm. The partner
will pay (1×22$) = 22$. You, staying until 9, will pay (1×22$) + (1×28$) = 50$. Your partner will not get access to the material covered between 8-9pm (See section below on absences)
Material Distribution
It is absolutely not permitted to share material covered with other students not attending tutoring, as it is a direct violation of UW’s Policy – 73 “Intellectual Property Rights”, plus an injustice to the students paying to attend said
tutoring. Group members however can share all material covered with eachother if they so desire.
It is also not permitted to share any material provided by the tutor with other students outside a group, unless advanced permission is obtained by the tutor himself. Material made by GeorgeTutors is considered the intellectual property of George Bobotsis and protected by common intellectual property law.
Absences
Absences as a part of a group are not typically penalized. However, if a student is missing a sizeable number of scheduled group meetings, the tutor can and will proceed to remove their access from the group’s shared filed and groupchat.
If an absent group member would like to obtain the material covered in a session, they have the following options:
- The notes for 35% of the cost incurred by the highest charged participant that day
- The notes & a recording of the session for 80% the cost incurred by the highest charged participant that day
Notes include pictures of boards and problem outlines or screenshots of OneNote work carried over zoom depending on which is applicable to the student’s circumstance.
Recordings are uploaded to unlisted playlists of the tutor’s Youtube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
“How do I prepare the best so as to maximize the benefit of my sessions with you?”
A good start is to list everything that you are uncertain about. This list should be populated throughout the time we haven’t seen eachother, adding constantly material and problems as you encounter them. This helps you two-fold. Once, because we will not be looking to find your weaknesses during the tutorial. Two, because I will have had a chance to see what you’re struggling with, anticipating your questions, and even building around them further adding my own twists to them if applicable. Three, because you will ultimately minimize the time you spend in the tutorial, meaning you will spend less!
“Can I drink/eat during our sessions?”
Yes, both, but please be considerate so as to not disturb me or other group members with extremely strong scents, constant shuffling noises or by making a mess on your desk.
“I don’t feel comfortable signing the promissory note”
You may elect not to sign the promissory note, however you will be required to pay upfront all due tuition for each and every session before leaving a tutorial.
Leaving without making a payment AND not having signed the promissory note is to be considered an act of welshing/debt evasion and will be prosecuted.
The promissory note is made to serve both as a fraud deterrent to the tutor inasmuch as it is to the tutee. Not signing means you’re electing to also not protect yourself, a very odd choice when you think about it!
“Do my materials get deleted after I am done tutoring with you?”
OneNote Notebooks do get deleted, typically a few months after the end of cooperation between a student and the tutor as they cause clutter and waste of cloud storage.
The same issue is not transferable to recordings, and since they are unlisted, they are kept, as some videos have been paid by the student.
Whenever the tutor is planning to delete any material, the affected student will be contacted a few days in advance to communicate the deleting of their files and to ensure that the student has kept all desired files and notes on their own devices.