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University Writing Center
The University Writing Center offers free, non-credit help with writing to any UMass student. Visitors to the Writing Center, located in the Learning Commons of Du Bois Library, work one-on-one with trained tutors on any writing issue or project they bring, though students usually seek help with paper assignments. Students enrolled in Junior-Year Writing courses are welcome and encouraged to use the Writing Center!
Writing Center tutors will assist students at any point in the writing process: from brainstorming a topic to further developing a draft to proofreading and editing. The goal of every tutoring session is to sharpen students’ understanding of and facility with their own writing processes, enabling them to become better readers, critics, and editors of their work. By emphasizing commentary, reflection, and revision, our goal is to help students embrace the writing process that is at the heart of all First and Junior Year Writing courses at UMass.
Tutoring sessions typically last forty-five minutes. Each tutoring station is equipped with a computer, so it is important for students to bring both a hard and electronic copy of their work so they can take notes and make revisions directly on the text. Also, we encourage tutees to remain at the Learning Commons following the session to revise their papers based on what they learned during their visit.
The Writing Center is open Monday – Wednesday, 10:00am – 9:00pm; Thursdays, 10:00am – 6:00pm; Fridays, 10:00am - 2:00pm; and Sundays, 2:00pm – 76:00 pm. Students are seen on a walk-in basis and may visit the Writing Center for a total of five hours a semester. If an instructor believes a student needs more extensive tutoring, he or she should contact Prof. Haivan Hoang, the Writing Center director (545-6240). She will meet with the student, determine the kind and amount of help that will be most effective, and assign the tutee to appointments with a specific tutor.
Roughly 80% of our clients learn about the Writing Center from classroom instructors. Therefore we ask that you share information about this valuable service with your students, perhaps including information about it in your syllabus. It is equally important that students understand what the Writing Center does not offer. We do not provide page-by-page grammar corrections and copyediting, rewriting of any part of a paper, or interpretation of course readings. We will, however, help the tutee understand your assignment, so please encourage students to bring any handouts or written instructions you have given them regarding the paper.
Tutorials work best when students seek our services on their own. Thus we are happy to visit your classroom to provide your students with a brief introduction to the Writing Center, explaining the benefits of using our services and dispelling the notion that tutoring from the Writing Center is a form of remediation. Remember: “Every Writer Needs a Reader.”
For additional information and updates on our workshops and services, visit our website: http://www.umass.edu/writingcenter/ .
Updated September 3, 2008
