What does the Writing Center Do?
The mission of the Southern Illinois University Writing Center is to help students from across the curriculum become better writers through sustained one-on-one work with a tutor. The Center's tutors neither write nor edit papers for students. Writing Center tutors are trained to fulfill the role of facilitator, rather than teacher or proofreader. Because they do not give grades, they can act as peer guides, providing feedback and strategies to help students become better writers by fostering their independent exploration of writing strategies.
Who are the Writing Center Tutors?
The Writing Center staff consists of graduate students from the English Department and selected upper-level undergraduates who have completed a 400-level training course in one-to-one teaching. In addition to the practicum course required of undergraduate tutors, new and returning tutors receive intensive training during the first two weeks of each semester, and specialized training continues throughout the semester.
What Type of Help is Available?
Through modeling and collaborative work, tutors act as peer facilitators to equip students with the skills necessary to improve their own writing. They help students develop strategies for every stage of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Students may seek assistance as well with specific tasks such as creating resumes and personal statements, searching and evaluating online databases, documenting sources, and studying for exams. Handouts are available in either of the two Centers, and computers are available for word processing and Internet searches during sessions. To receive help on their essays, students should come to the Centers early in the writing process, ready to work hard and take responsibility for their own projects. A handout is available to help students prepare for a Writing Center visit. Students attending either of the two Centers are encouraged to sign up for a regular-weekly session with the same tutor at the same time each week, but they may also be seen on a single-visit basis. As with the regular-weekly conference, the aim of single-visit sessions is to help the students develop strategies to write more effectively.
Encourage Conference Summaries
Your students have the option of requesting that you receive a one-page email summary of each session they attend. We hope that you will encourage them to request a summary for each of their visits. Keeping the lines of communication open between the classroom and the Writing Center can help make your students' Writing Center sessions more productive.
Provide Us With Your Feedback
With each conference summary, you will receive an email, through which you can reply to provide tutors with valuable feedback and suggestions for future sessions. Tutors always appreciate hearing from faculty.
Referring Students for Specific Assistance
If students need help with specific aspects of writing, encourage them to come to the writing center with specific skills or assignment feedback in mind to direct our consultants. Ensure any and all course documents (syllabus, clear assignment instructions, etc.) are readily available to the student through D2L.
Respect Student Autonomy
While requiring visits is one way to introduce students to the Centers, mandating attendance generally proves less productive than motivating students to attend voluntarily. If you do decide to require your students to visit the Center, or offer extra credit for visiting, please remember that we have a limited number of appointments each day. Spacing required visits across the semester can avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure that all students have equal access to the Centers.
Lead a Training Session
Throughout each semester, tutors receive continuing education in areas such as tutoring non-native speakers and students with learning disabilities, as well as writing in different disciplines. If you have special expertise or guidance to offer on writing in your field, please consider volunteering to lead a training session.
