Services

For Students

The Writing Center offers two primary services for students: individual consultations and workshops.

Individual consultations

The Writing Center offers one-to-one conferences with writing consultants on a drop-in or appointment basis. Sessions usually last either 25 or 50 minutes. We work with students at all levels and on any college assignment or academic task (such as applications for internships or personal statements for graduate school).

Please keep in mind that there is no "quick fix" for writing improvement. Successful writing takes time, effort, and thought. In a session, we will talk with you about your ideas and drafts and offer strategies to help you consider your options and make effective changes to your writing on your own. In each session, our goal is to help you learn one or two main things related to writing.

We can assist you with all aspects of the writing process including:

• understanding assignments
• generating ideas
• developing thesis statements
• organizing an essay
• using sources effectively
• forming coherent paragraphs
• developing topic sentences and transitions
• communicating clearly at the sentence level
• using punctuation effectively

We cannot:

• write the paper for you
• edit or proofread the paper for you

If sentence-level issues are a concern, we will be happy to help you identify patterns of error in your writing and begin correcting them and to help you learn strategies for effective proofreading. Like any aspect of writing, improvement at the sentence level takes time and requires continuing effort.

Please bring your assignment sheet along with your ideas, notes, and drafts and come prepared to talk about your writing.

View the Center's schedule and make an appointment

Workshops

The Writing Center offers free, non-credit workshops that provide a brief overview of specific topics in writing.  

For Faculty