Our 1-on-1 consultation sessions provide individualized attention to improve your writing abilities and products. In these sessions, our graduate and undergraduate work with all students on all writing, including:
Any major: STEM, Humanities, Arts, Social Science, and more!
Any assignment: lab reports, tech writing, reflections, literary analyses, research reviews, and everything else.
Any stage of writing: just got the assignment? already have a draft? proofreading and citations? We do it all!
Any kind of writing -- professional, academic, creative: short stories, cover letters and resumes, class projects, and anything in between.
Information About Consultations
What to Expect
A writing consultation is unlike other tutoring services. Here's what you can expect when you visit the writing center:
Your session is a collaborative conversation: You and your consultant will discuss your writing and collaborate through your conversation. Together you'll create a plan or identify opportunities for improvement and revision.
You'll work together on an agenda for the session. Come to your session with goals in mind, and using those goals, you and your consultant will make a plan for how to spend the time you have together.
Your consultant will ask a lot of questions: "Good" writing is all about the purpose, audience, and context. Your consultant will need this information to respond to your writing effectively.
You'll read through your assignment and writing together. You or your consultant will review your assignment, rubrics, and other class material and read any draft material you bring with you. In a typical session, you can get through roughly 4-5 pages of written material. Consider making multiple appointments for longer works.
Your consultant has writing knowledge, but you have content knowledge. Consultants can help you with all kinds of writing tasks but don't always have knowledge about your major, your class, or your field. That's what you bring to the writing, and your consultant will help you express that knowledge effectively.
Your consultant is not an editor to "fix" your paper or just check your grammar. Our consultations are not just grammar sessions nor do our consultants do all the work to improve your paper. You must contribute to the session and be an active participant as you review all aspects of your writing.
We don't grade writing or guarantee a certain grade. Only your instructor can grade your work. Our services do not promise you a certain grade, but we do promise to help you learn more about writing effectively and to be more successful in your task. We help you advance along your writing process and see different perspectives that can help you achieve your writing goals.
You will receive a summary of your session and revision plan. After your consultant is over, your consultant will spend some time writing a short summary of what you did in the session and what plans you made for revision.
Online Consultations
Online consultations provide an opportunity for students to use our services from anywhere. Here are something to know about our online consulting:
Talking to your consultant online
When signing up for an online consultation, read the consultant's info to see what kinds of online appointment they offer (text chat, audio chat, and/or video chat).
On the appointment form, request your preference for your consultation. Please note that your consultant may not be able to accommodate audio or video chat requests if you sign-up for your consultation too close to your appointment.
Our online system
Our online scheduler WCOnline has a built-in platform for online consultations. We do not use Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or any other system for our consultations.
To learn more about making or joining appointments, please see the dark gray box on the right side of the page.
Working together on writing
Our online platform, WCOnline, features a space for you and your consultant to write, review, and revise together. You can choose to import or copy/paste your writing into the platform for your session.
Note that some advanced formatting features may not import into the platform, but most formatting will remain the same.
Problems? Contact us!
If you're having trouble with your online session, please send us an email (write@siu.edu) or call us (618-453-1231).
Policies
To ensure fair and equitable access to all our students and the productive use of our services, the writing center maintains the following policies regarding appointments:
Scheduling
You may schedule up to 3 consultations per week totaling no more than 4 hours each week.
You may only schedule 1 consultation per day.
If you fail to attend 3 scheduled appointments, your WCOnline account will be locked and future appointments must be scheduled by phone, email, or in-person.
Graduate students and TRIO students may receive special consideration for additional time and appointments. Please email write@siu.edu or visit us in Morris Library to arrange these accommodations.
In Our Consultations
Consultations last up to 45 minutes. The remainder of your hour-long slot allows your consultant to write a summary report of your session and prepare for their next appointment.
Consultants do not review your writing independently or before the session. We do not accept papers via email.
Our consultants will not comment on the grade a text may receive.
Our consultants do not write your papers for you in any fashion. This includes making corrections or revision without your collaboration.
All members of our writing center community deserve the utmost respect. Any form of harassment, hate speech, or aggression in the writing center will not be tolerated. Clients who violate this policy will be banned from the writing center indefinitely. If actions of our staff cause you to feel uncomfortable in anyway, please consider emailing the director to discuss your experience.
How to..
Schedule a consultation?
o make an appointment, please visit our online scheduling system. You may also email (write@siu.edu) or call us, but our online system is the easiest and quickest way to book an appointment. Please refer to the steps below.
Register on WCOnline, our appointment scheduling system. Using your SIU email address, create an account and provide the required information.
Log in with your new account. Remember that your account must use your SIU email address.
Select the appropriate schedule. At the top of scheduler, you'll find a drop-down menu that lists all of our available locations, including our online appointments. Please select your desired location's or online session schedule to view available appointments.
Find an available time. In our scheduler, you will find available slots for writing consultations in white. Click on your desired time to launch the appointment form.
Reserve your consultation with the appointment form. Fill out the form with the required information and click "Create Appointment" at the bottom to confirm your session.
Confirm your booking by finding the yellow box. If you were successful, your chosen slot on the writing center schedule will now be a yellow box.
Attend your session! Congratulations! We look forward to working with you.
Join an online consultation?
Log in to WCOnline, our appointment scheduling system. Remember to log in using your SIU email. Please call or email us if you are having trouble logging in.
Select the appropriate schedule. At the top of scheduler, you'll find a drop-down menu that lists all of our available locations, including our online appointments. Please select your appointment's location or the online session schedule.
Locate your appointment in the yellow box. Click on the yellow box to open the appointment form.
Join your consultation from the appointment form. Near the top of the form, locate the light-gray box labled "Meet Online?" At the bottom of that box, click on "START OR JOIN CONSULTATION."