Writing Center

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Frequently Asked Questions for the Writing Center


​​View Student FAQ​


Why should I recommend my students use the Writing Center?
The Writing Center has a wide range of available appointment times—weekdays, weekends, evenings, by appointment and drop-in hours; we also tutor live online and via email. When students use the Writing Center alongside other instructional resources, such as visiting your office hours, they often experience a great deal of growth in their writing process.

It's always a good idea to have another set of eyes give feedback on a project. Help your students take advantage of this free service offered to all University of Findlay students.

At the end of a session, Writing Center tutors encourage students to make follow-up appointments for that assignment or even other classes. Writers can schedule for any open time slots with the same tutor or try working with other tutors. Faculty members can also encourage students to try various appointment types so their students can find formats that work best for them.
Who can use the Writing Center?
Any College Credit Plus, undergraduate, or graduate student at the University of Findlay can use the Writing Center.
Can faculty use the Writing Center, too?
For faculty writers seeking help, please email the Graduate Writing Center tutors to schedule an appointment (faculty cannot use the student-scheduling function in Starfish). In addition, faculty writing is support is offered each week through the Center for Teaching Excellence via a faculty writing group. Each week faculty members bring writing and receive feedback and support for writing projects. Please contact Christine Tulley, Faculty Writing Group coordinator, at [email protected] to join a group.
Who are the Writing Center tutors?
Undergraduate Writing Center tutors are sophomores, juniors, or seniors from a variety of majors at the university. They are well-trained, having taken a three-credit training course. They have excelled in core English classes with a “B" or higher and have been recommended highly by their professors.

Support for graduate-level students is provided by two graduate students in the Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing program, and have a special focus on tutoring students in advanced degree programs.

You can view their profiles in Starfish to learn more about them.
Do you offer any sort of in-class tutoring?
We do! Please email the Writing Center to arrange a classroom visit. Students often enjoy those sessions and use the Writing Center on their own after having the experience in class.

Can a member of your staff come to talk to my class about the resources you provide?
Of course, we can! We try to send out a faculty email about promotional visits at the beginning of each semester. If you'd like us to come in, feel free to call or email the office or fill out the promo visit request form, and someone will be in touch to arrange a classroom visit. Our presentation is approximately 10-15 minutes long. We outline the services we provide, field questions, and provide a business card to students with our hours and contact information.

Can I require my entire class to bring their papers to the Writing Center?
We appreciate your interest in students using our services. With careful planning, all of your students can use the Writing Center and we can avoid frustrating bottlenecks that can result otherwise. For example, if you assign groups of students particular weeks of the semester, then you avoid a rush for a limited number of appointment slots just before the due date.

We encourage you to use our in-class tutoring services or invite a tutor to come to talk to your class about the resources we provide.

Will I know if my students visit the Writing Center?
Yes, as the instructor you can use Starfish to review the Writing Center’s summary of the session in Outcomes as well as the topics covered in SpeedNotes. Faculty who need help using Starfish should contact Bill Johnston, Director of Orientation and Student Persistence, with questions.

Sometimes students who visit the Writing Center still turn in papers that I find poorly written. Why does this happen?
Learning to write well takes time and all writers need lots of support, practice, and time to improve. We encourage students to set their own writing goals for assignments and take an active role in the session. Making progress in just a few areas, such as noticing the need for more quotation integration, takes time to explain and build that skill. A student who had a great session early on as they brainstorm a thesis, for example, may still want another appointment later in the session to learn about formatting or writing a great paper title.

If you have specific information that you would like our tutors to know about your assignments or the outcomes you hope to see in the finished project, feel free to tell us!

Can the Writing Center help students who are not native English speakers?
We offer help when writing is the primary issue for their project: brainstorming, drafting, writing, citing, revising, and so on. When the student would like conversation practice, American culture familiarization, grammar explanations, and individualized homework help attention, please refer them to the English Language Learner (ELL) Support Center.

I would like to suggest my students also seek tutoring in the content area of the course. How can students access content-area tutoring?
The Academic Support Center(ASC), located in Old Main 45, offers content area tutoring. Students can also use Starfish to make content-area appointments at the ASC HERE.
I think a student of mine should work with a copyeditor to finalize a major project. Can the Writing Center recommend one or provide copyediting services?
If your student wants to learn more about working with a copyeditor, we recommend starting by reading this article, which includes information about finding, hiring, and working with copyeditors.

Tutors at the Writing Center focus on helping their peers’ writing skills. That may mean, for example, extended advice on analyzing and synthesizing sources, tips to stay motivated, or links to citation style guides.
Students can ask for help depending on where they are in their project, including:
Planning
• Analyzing a primary source
• Analyzing a scholarly source
• Brainstorming
• Creating a research question
• Developing a thesis
• Synthesizing scholarly sources
• Taking notes while reading and researching
• Understanding the assignment sheet and/or rubric

Drafting
• Connecting claims and evidence
• Creating transitions
• Outlining
• Refining a thesis
• Using effective summaries, paraphrases, and quotations
• Writing and revising topic sentences

Revising
• Clarifying and expanding the thesis
• Expanding and adding ideas
• Reorganizing draft
• Revising a draft based on feedback

Citing
• Using AMA style citation and formatting
• Using APA style citation and formatting
• Using MLA style citation and formatting

Editing & Proofreading
• Identifying grammar and usage errors
• Using style and tone that matches the assignment​

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Appointment!

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