Faculty Resources

The StAAR Center (Student Accessibility and Academic Resource Center)

The StAAR Center coordinates academic, housing, and other reasonable accommodations as needed for students with disabilities. We support professors in making an inclusive learning environment for all students and provide resource tools to make it attainable.

Our office provides a variety of individual and group programming that attends to the needs of a diverse community of learners and includes one-on-one academic coaching, academic skills and discipline-specific workshops, and small group tutoring for specific courses. We also offer one-on-one tutoring through our writing center and provide support in public speaking and presentation skills. All Academic Resources are free and open to all Tufts students undergraduate and graduate students in Arts and Sciences, Engineering, SMFA and the Fletcher School.

You can find out more about what we do and how we can help on our Faculty Partnerships webpage. Faculty are invited to participate in the Writing Fellows Program: Join a group of professors and talented undergraduate writing tutors dedicated to improving student writing by making time outside of class and office hours for drafting, feedback, and revising.

Scholar Development

Tufts provides resources and programs to identify, support, and nurture the talents of undergraduate and graduate students as they conduct research, explore research opportunities, or seek funding for future endeavors through nationally competitive scholarships and grants. Faculty are encouraged to nominate students and to serve as mentors, recommenders, and on scholarship selection committees. The Summer Scholars Program unites professors and students in funded summer research projects. The Undergraduate Research Fund provides reimbursement for costs incurred as part of a student’s original research.

Academic Advising

In the Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering, faculty are directly responsible for advising undergraduates. Faculty serve as the advisors of students who have a declared a major, and they serve as Pre-Major Advisors for first-year students and undeclared sophomores. 

Center for Enhancement for Learning and Teaching

Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) is a central resource for teaching-related initiatives at Tufts University (covering all schools).

Conference on Faculty and Teaching Development

Tufts sponsors an annual university-wide teaching conference to bring faculty together around common teaching problems. 

Mentor a Summer Scholar

Funding is available for talented undergraduates to conduct original research over the summer in support of a faculty research project. The Summer Scholars Program invites applications from across disciplines, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences, engineering, and interdisciplinary approaches. 

Become an Advisor

Thesis Writing Advisors: Offer your expertise and guidance to Tufts seniors as they conduct original research for their senior honors thesis. You can find more details about what this entails in the faculty handbook.

Pre-Major Advisors: As an academic advisor for first-year students and sophomores, you can help students adjust to college, select courses, and decide on a major.

Serve on the Scholarship Committee

Help Tufts students win competitive post-graduate scholarships and fellowships. We rely on faculty expertise to select the most worthy students and advise them as they prepare their applications. Even if you cannot serve on this committee, you can still assist the dean in identifying students who may be future Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater, Carnegie, or Fulbright scholars. Please contact Carmen Lowe.

Nominate a Student to Become a Tutor

The Student Accessibility and Academic Resources (StAAR) Center relies on professors and teaching assistants to identify students who have the intellect, expertise, and outstanding interpersonal communication skills required to be an effective peer tutor. Please contact Kristina Aikens.

Nominate a Student for an Academic Award

Every April, we celebrate our students and confer upon them numerous endowed prizes and awards that take into account various indicators of excellence, among them, academic achievement, athletic prowess, leadership, community service, and artistic accomplishment. Faculty nominations are requested in January and February. See the full list of Academic Awards.

Occasionally, you may need to miss a class to attend a conference, perform jury duty, or observe a religious holy day. With advance notice and planning, the Career Center, the Counseling and Mental Health Service, and the Student Accessibility and Academic Resources (StAAR) Center all offer programs for when a professor has to miss a class.

• The Career Center program Don’t Cancel that Class! allows faculty members to schedule an in-class workshop by a career counselor. You may choose from a menu of programs or work with the staff to customize a course for your class. 
• Counseling and Mental Health Service offers workshops, subject to staff availability. You can review and request workshops here.
• The StAAR Center can present workshops on topics such as effective test-taking and study strategies, reading strategies, time management, and more. 

Thank you for agreeing to supervise a senior honors thesis. It’s possible that your student has never before had this much independence or this much to write. Your support is essential to the student’s success.

• Advising the Senior Honors Thesis: Guidelines for Tufts Faculty: Detailed guidelines clarify roles and responsibilities, requirements, how to address typical problems such as lack of progress, and helping your student prepare for the defense.
• Dean of Undergraduate Studies can answer questions about honors thesis policies and deadlines.
• Your student’s dean can advise you about how to respond appropriately to a senior who is not making progress on the thesis, wants to take an incomplete for the honors thesis, or may not graduate.
• The StAAR Center provides extensive support to supplement your role as a Senior Thesis advisor. They offer senior thesis workshops, support groups, one-on-one writing consultations, and help with public speaking.
• Scholar Development offers funding for undergraduate research, including travel to present the research at conferences. Tufts’ Undergraduate Research Symposium offers your students the chance to present their research to peers on campus.