The Writing Center

Writing Center Announcements
March 9, 2024

During Spring Break, the Writing Center is open for virtual appointments, operating with a limited schedule, from Sunday, March 10 through Sunday, March 17. Appointments resume meeting in person in New South on Monday, March 18. Learn more about Writing Center appointments and our scheduling system.

Do you enjoy supporting others and talking with them about their writing? Consider applying to work as a Writing Center Fellow! The application cycle for positions beginning in Fall 2024 is currently underway.

Every writer needs a reader, and the Writing Center has a reader for every writer! Trained to respond to writing from a variety of genres and disciplines, Writing Center Fellows offer free, one-on-one conferences about writing at any stage in the process.

Located in New South, the Writing Center welcomes undergraduate and graduate students working on any kind of writing project, as well as postdocs and faculty working on writing related to their research. We regularly see:

  • undergraduate students working on essays for classes
  • juniors and seniors working on independent research projects
  • graduate students working on seminar papers, research or grant proposals, articles, or dissertations
  • international students making the transition to U.S. academic writing
  • students writing essays for fellowships or for graduate school or job applications
  • students crafting oral presentations

Writing Center Fellows can help with any part of the writing process: brainstorming ideas, developing a thesis, structuring an argument, or revising a draft. The goal of each conference is to develop strategies that will encourage students to become astute readers and critics of their own work. Although the Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service, Fellows can help students identify patterns in their writing related to mechanics and sentence structure.

Writing Center Fellows are there to listen, strategize, suggest, diagnose, and offer advice. They serve as sounding boards, careful readers, and helpful critics, and are able to help draw out ideas and possibilities that are implicit in a student's own thinking and writing. Writing Center conferences complement, but do not replace, the relationships students have with their teachers and advisors.

Writing Center Appointments

To meet with a Writing Center Fellow, make an appointment using one of the links below. Come with whatever you've got—an assignment, ideas, rough notes, or a partial or full draft.

Writing Center Conferences

Open to all undergraduates and graduate students working on writing of any kind and at any stage in the process.

Bring a prompt to brainstorm, a rough draft of an essay, a cover letter, a grant proposal, a personal statement, a creative piece, or an oral presentation!

Standard Writing Center conferences are 50 minutes in length.

BOOK a WRITING CENTER CONFERENCE

Research Writing Conferences

These appointments are reserved for:

  • Undergraduate juniors and seniors working on independent work. Bring ideas for a junior paper, a thesis funding proposal, essays for graduate school applications, or selections from a thesis!
  • Graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff working on writing of any kind related to their research. Bring ideas for a seminar paper or conference presentation, a grant or fellowship proposal, a draft of an article, or selections from a dissertation!

Research Writing conferences with the Writing Center are 50 or 80 minutes in length. You can adjust the length of your conference when booking your appointment.

Postdocs, faculty, and staff: Please complete this form to request access to our scheduling system.

BOOK a RESEARCH WRITING CONFERENCe

Questions?

Have a question or not sure how to proceed? Contact [email protected].

Anatomy of a Writing Center Conference

Where Is the Writing Center?

During the academic year, while classes are in session and during Reading Period, Writing Center conferences take place in person at the Writing Center in New South. Take the elevator or the stairs to the second floor and enter the door labeled "The Writing Center" (to the left as you exit the stairs or to the right as you exit the elevator). Take a seat in our reception area; you'll know you're in the right place when you see the whiteboard with "Welcome to the Writing Center!" written on it. A Writing Center Fellow will come and find you at the start time of your appointment.

Policies & Frequently Asked Questions

Our Approach

Our Policies

Our Scheduling System