Sending your students to the Writing Center
The staff at the Connors Writing Center is equipped to help with any manner of academic writing. This includes, but is not limited to, essays, research projects, thesis papers, lab reports, cover letters and resumes. The staff also addresses every stage of the writing process, from topic creation and thesis development to final drafts and revisions. As of the current academic year, we also work with students on oral presentations and speeches.
Writing conferences are one-on-one and generally last one hour. Writing assistants begin a conference by asking the student about the assignment and his or her goals. The writing assistant then leads the conference by first reading the paper out loud with the student before focusing on particular areas of concern or difficulty.
Oral presentation conferences are similar, but focus on one of three stages of oral presentation: planning, review and rehearsal.
Writing Center assistants are content coaches rather than grammar police. While they will address repeated grammatical errors, they also focus on the core components of writing and oral presentation: development, purpose, audience, clarity, conciseness, organization and style.
Faculty information sheet [PDF]. This sheet provides information for instructors who are sending their students to the Connors Writing Center.
There are many ways to introduce your students to the Connors Writing Center:
- Arrange for an in-class Writing Center introduction
- Recommend the Writing Center in your syllabus, providing location and contact information
- Distribute informational handouts about the Writing Center to your students
When you encourage your students to visit the Writing Center, we recommend you provide us with a copy of your course syllabus in advance. Our Writing Center assistants will reference this syllabus when meeting with your students to ensure the assignment meets your requirements.
At the conclusion of each conference, the Writing Center assistant will ask the student if he or she wants a faculty note sent to the professor or instructor responsible for the assignment. The faculty note is a great opportunity to get a snapshot of what was worked on during the conference. If you would like to receive these notes, please be sure to advise your students to request one.