AVPS

University Writing Center

University Writing Center


We offer free writing support to TAMUK students, faculty, and staff. Accomplished graduate and undergraduate students make up our staff of dedicated tutors. We work with writers through all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming and organizing to revising and polishing. While face-to-face, in-person appointments are the ideal way to experience our services, students (especially distance learners) can also make online appointments. 

In order for us to assist you in the best possible way:

  1. Make an appointment as early as possible in the term. Then you can visit us every week (whether or not you are actually working on a specific writing project) to practice writing strategies, research strategies, and so on.
  2. Please make sure to bring the assignment sheet from your course, and any other guidelines for your writing project. This will allow you and your writing consultant to be on the same page as much as possible. If you have a laptop, you can bring that along as well.
WRITING CENTER HOURS:
Monday-Thursday 10am - 8pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 4pm - 8pm
Location: Jernigan Library, Room 217

UWC Mission Statement

At the University Writing Center (UWC), we believe writing is more than just a tool. It is a skill every citizen needs, and a craft every student should hone. Our challenge as peer Writing Consultants is to collaboratively assist fellow writers in all stages of the writing process, from generating ideas to editing and proofreading. We meet each writer where she or he is, with respect for individual learning styles. We share with fellow writers the tools necessary to improve her or his writing process, while fostering interactions between peer learners that benefit both the writer and the writing consultant. At the UWC, everyone is a valued colleague in our culture of writing. 

UWC Student Learning Outcomes

Students who utilize the University Writing Center will:

  1. Understand writing as a complex meaning-making process, one that requires writers to develop strategies for generating, developing, supporting, and organizing ideas; finding, evaluating, and integrating sources; citing and documenting research; globally revising for clarity, coherence, and concision; and locally proofreading and editing for grammar, mechanics, spelling, and style.
  2. Recognize the unique rhetorical situation of every writing task - that any piece of writing is addressed to a specific audience, for a specific purpose, on a specific subject, within a specific context.
  3. Become aware of discipline-specific conventions that govern academic writing in various discourse communities, i.e., the sciences, the social sciences, and the liberal arts and humanities. 
  4. Learn to manage the time, effort, and attention necessary to complete academic writing projects. 
  5. Gain confidence in their writing abilities.

UWC/Library Resources for Research

http://libguides.tamuk.edu/content.php?pid=624421&sid=5164642.
This LibGuide is for the use of faculty, students, and tutors of the Writing Center. These resources will help in finding information on multiple topics for writing.

WC Quick Guides (George Mason University)

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/writing-center-quick-guides.
These quick guides offer students helpful instructions and strategies for a wide variety of writing situations. 

Helpful Links (George Mason University)

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/helpful-links

How do I let students know about the University Writing Center?

If you encourage or require students to visit the Writing Center for an assignment, please educate them about what the Writing Center does. The Writing Center is not a grammar fix-it shop; we do not edit and proofread students' papers. Sometimes, students see the requirement to visit the Writing Center as a simple process of dropping their papers off to be "cleaned up" and stamped. When they find out they need to schedule an appointment and should expect to spend 30-40 minutes in conversation with a writing consultant, they can be shocked, and sometimes annoyed! When you recommend students to the Writing Center, explain to them the sorts of things they should be focusing on in their session (i.e., idea development and organization in earlier drafts or phases of the writing project; grammar and mechanics in later drafts). This can help the writing consultant make the sessions more productive than if the student comes in with no idea of what help she or he might require.

Request an informational visit for your classroom. Email us at Jody.Marin@tamuk.edu to request an informational visit. One or two University Writing Center (UWC) staff members will give a five-minute informational talk about our services and pass out flyers.

Field trip to the UWC. Email us at Jody.Marin@tamuk.edu and let us know that you will be bringing your students on a field trip to the UWC. We will give a short informational talk and hand out flyers. 

How do I include the UWC in my syllabus?

Encourage students to visit the UWC. Let students know about the UWC using the information and methods above (and please feel free to use any of our words). In your syllabus, encourage them to come during the planning or drafting stages of their writing. Encourage struggling students to visit the UWC, but remember, ALL writers can benefit from our services. 

Give extra credit for UWC visits. Let students know that they can earn extra credit for visiting the UWC. You will receive a client report for each student of yours who visits us.

Require a UWC visit. This can be a good way to ensure all of your students visit the UWC. If you require a visit, we recommend that you integrate the visit into your course calendar at a strategic time. For instance, ask students to bring a draft of a paper to the Writing Center a few days before the due date. (Otherwise, many students tend to visit us at the very last minute.)

How else can the UWC offer assistance to writing instructors and students?

If you would like a team of our staff to deliver a workshop in your class, please contact us. Some possible workshop topics we can facilitate include: peer review and response strategies; strategies for getting started, composing, and/or revising and polishing a draft; strategies for close and critical reading; strategies for summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting; using and citing sources; and using MLA, APA, or some other particular formatting style (especially how to find and use resource guides for citation styles). 

The best workshops often become conversations among the presenters, the students, and the instructor. We invite instructors to discuss how the material in the workshop applies specifically to their courses and assignments, and we require that the instructor be present when our staff are facilitating a workshop with the class. 

Contact:
361-593-2744