Writing CenterPurpose
The Writing Center provides free peer tutoring on all aspects of writing, including generating ideas, determining audience and purpose, organizing ideas, providing evidence to support arguments, documenting sources, and editing for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Most of the papers we work with are from English classes, but we see written work from almost all fields, including education, art history, history, philosophy, religion, foreign languages, government, business, economics, math, psychology, sociology, theater, and graduate school essays. The role of Writing Center tutors is not to proofread or “fix” papers before they’re turned in, but to respond thoughtfully to papers at any stage of the writing process and to help students improve their writing through discussion and instruction.
Meet the Writing Center Tutors
Read The Terrier Telegraph, the Writing Center's Newsletter
Place
The Writing Center is located in the Sandor Teszler library on the main floor past the reference area and down a short hall. If a student needs help with a long or particularly difficult paper, he/she can ask for an appointment by contacting the director, Dr. John Miles.
Spring 2011 Workshops
- Thursday, Feb. 24, 7:00 pm: Thesis Development
A thesis is a statement of the author’s point of view on the topic being discussed in the paper. Join us to work on your thesis writing skills.
- Thursday, March 3, 7:00 pm: Summary, Evidence and Analysis
We will explore techniques to summarize effectively, analyze critically, and select appropriate evidence. We'll highlight (literally, bring your highlighters) summary and analysis and look at passages from literature to see how you can "dig deeper."
- Thursday, March 10, 7:00 pm: Organization/Structure
We will discuss different ways to organize paragraphs and papers. We will also look at student works in progress and apply our discussion to student papers.
Regular Hours
No appointment is necessary, but at certain times in the semester, the Center is quite busy, and students who bring in papers the night before they are due may find that the tutors can not give them the time they need.
| Monday |
1:00pm - 4:00pm |
7:00pm - 10:00pm |
| Tuesday |
1:00pm - 4:00pm |
7:00pm - 10:00pm |
| Wednesday |
1:00pm - 3:00pm |
7:00pm - 10:00pm |
| Thursday |
1:00pm - 4:00pm |
7:00pm - 10:00pm |
| Friday |
1:00pm - 3:00pm |
|
| Saturday |
Closed |
| Sunday |
|
7:00pm - 10:00pm |
| Note: Tutors are not available during finals week. |
Resources
What We Expect from Students Using the Writing Center
- turn off cell phones
- don’t ask for proofreading
- bring your writing prompt or assignment
- be active and engaged; work on improving your writing skills
- have specific questions and an objective for your session
- remember that your paper is your responsibility, not the tutor’s
- don’t come in just before closing time
- try not to come in the night before a paper is due
- don’t ask for help on any one paper more than twice
- for papers over 10 pages, ask for a special appointment
- for other special needs, contact the director
Helpful Websites: