Community members must possess at least an associate's degree from an accredited college or university. Current students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA. All volunteers must complete the required training program(s), typically offered in August, before serving as academic coaches and tutors, and they are expected to serve at least 2 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters. Volunteers serve on a regularly-scheduled basis and are held to the same performance standards as paid staff.

Academic coaching facilitates goal attainment. With the assistance of experienced coaches, students explore their strengths; sharpen their knowledge, skills, and abilities; and implement strategies to access resources, manage priorities, and achieve their desired outcomes.

Although academic coaching is personalized to meet the needs of each student, many students seek assistance in the following areas: study skills, reading, note-taking, exam preparation, test-taking, priority management, goal attainment, and stress management. In addition to meeting individually with students, academic coaches may participate in outreach activities and facilitate workshops.

Volunteer tutors assist students individually and collectively in one or more of the following areas: business, humanities, mathematics, sciences, social sciences, technologies, and writing. Tutors are not responsible for knowing all the answers.

Tutors role model successful strategies by acknowledging when they are unsure of themselves and by encouraging students to use the many resources available to them—instructors, notes, peers, textbooks, and others—to solve problems on their own.

A good tutor does not do the work for the student, but instead teaches students how to help themselves and how to become more interdependent learners.