Writing Center Resources FAQs for Faculty

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where is the Writing Center?

We’re located in the Academic Success Center, on the second floor of Saint Joseph Hall.

2. Do students need an appointment?

Yes. Students may sign up for either 60 minute sessions with a tutor using their Naviagte app under the care unit ‘Academic Support’.

3. Who are the Writing Center tutors?

The tutors are graduate students who demonstrate strong communication skills, an aptitude for writing, understanding of the writing process, and the ability to work with students in a tutoring setting. Tutors also consist of the Writing Center Director and the Professional Tutor.  Graduate students can request to work with either the Writing Center Director or the Professional Tutor.  If we cannot accommodate schedules, rest assured that our Graduate Assistants are well-trained to work with large-scale research projects.

4. My student said s/he visited the Writing Center, but the paper still has many errors. Why?

The tutors work with students first on higher order concerns (thesis, organization, development, support, and coherence) before addressing later concerns and surface errors (grammar, capitalization, and punctuation). Students are encouraged to visit the Writing Center multiple times with the same assignment to strengthen their skills in the various aspects of the writing process. Tutors are not editors or proofreaders. They will discuss patterns of errors in a student’s writing and explain, by addressing a few examples in the paper, how to remedy the errors. It is then the responsibility of the student to make the needed changes in the rest of the paper. Our hope is that by working with the student in this way, the student will develop more independence and confidence in their writing, and we strongly believe in the importance of this end goal.

5. Can I require my students to visit the Writing Center?

While it is not always effective to require student visits to the Writing Center, encouraging them to come or offering extra credit tends to be more effective. We can also provide a brief class presentation to overview our services, in-person or via Zoom. This helps make our services and how to make use of them transparent to the student.

6. How can I help my students get the best assistance possible at the Writing Center?

Send assignment guidelines (sometimes known as the prompt), to the Director, Kelly Chase, so she can make these available to the tutors. Encourage students to make appointments and bring the assignment materials with them.

7. Can I find out if a student has visited the Writing Center?

You can ask the Director for confirmation that the student made and attended their appointment.

8. Is the Writing Center staff available for classroom visits?

Yes. Contact Kelly Chase, chasek@strose.edu if you would like to schedule a workshop or a brief overview of our services in your classroom. The tutoring staff is available to visit classrooms to provide information on a variety of topics:

• Overview of The Writing Center Services
• MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual Style Documentation Styles
• Thesis Statements
• Revision
• Peer Review
• Academic Integrity
• If you would like a workshop on a different topic, please reach out and I will be happy to work with you.

Graduate-specific Workshops

In addition to workshops for undergraduates, we would also offer writing workshops that are specific for the needs of graduate students.

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Argument
• Developing a Research Topic and Elevator Pitch
• Evaluating and Choosing Sources
• Literature Reviews
• Managing the Process of a Large Writing Project
• Reading Critically
• Revision and Peer Review
• If you would like a workshop on a different topic, please reach out and I will be happy to work with you.