What We Do

For Students

What we do to assist you:

• Work with you as you learn and use conventions of Standard English: grammar, mechanics, citation styles
• Make sense of an assignment
• Develop your ideas/thesis/argument, even if the consultant hasn't taken the class or had another class with the professor
• Learn an effective writing process
• Organize and structure your writing
• Improve introductions, conclusions, transitions and body paragraphs
• Design more effective sentences
• Identify the weakest elements of your writing so you can focus when you revise
• Flesh out your writing skills over a prolonged period of time

What we don't do:

• Revise or “fix” your paper for you
• Proofread entire papers for grammar errors or misspellings
• Tell you what you should think
• Help significantly with a paper due in an hour or even the next day

For Instructors

What we do to assist you:

• Visit your class to explain what the Writing Center does
• Provide training in teaching elements of the writing process
• Together, design writing assignments to meet your objectives
• Conduct peer response sessions in the Writing Center under your guidance
• Discuss writing issues with you

What we don't do:

• Tell you what writing assignments to make
• Tell you how writing in your discipline should look
• Tell Writing Center clients what grades they should receive on the writing assignments you make