How Faculty Can Best Use the Center

Sharing Information about the Center

Talk to your students about the importance of an audience for one’s writing and encourage them to use the writing center to talk with another student about their writing. As writers ourselves, we know that talking with a skilled reader is very beneficial to developing writing projects and to learning about how we can write and communicate more effectively.

Contact us to set up a classroom presentation or complete the form. We can present a brief overview (about 5-10 minutes) of the center, including how students can make appointments.

• You can also access the classroom presentation slides to use on your own.
  
  
• Or you can access a recorded version of the classroom presentation slides with voiceover.
  
  

Share information about the Writing Center in your syllabus and on Canvas.

• Instructions for viewing the center link in Canvas
  (1) Go to Library Resources in the course navigation section.
  (2) Select the “writing help” link.
  
  
• Sample text for syllabi (short version):
  The Writing Center is a free resource where you can find support for the writing assigned for this course. Tutors can help you with your assignments at any stage of the writing process--from brainstorming topics to revision of in-process drafts. You can expect your session to be collaborative: consider your tutor a writing coach who can offer insight into the specific project you are working on, as well as strategies to help you develop your writing skills overall.  Information about making appointments and more at writingcenter.sdsu.edu.
  
  
• Sample text for syllabi (longer version with detailed information):
  The Writing Center is a free resource where you can find support for the writing assigned for this course. Tutors can help you with your assignments at any stage of the writing process--from brainstorming topics to revision of in-process drafts. You can expect your session to be collaborative: consider your tutor a writing coach who can offer insight into the specific project you are working on, as well as strategies to help you develop your writing skills overall. Information about making appointments and more at writingcenter.sdsu.edu.
  
  To make an appointment, please visit the Writing Center’s webpage, writingcenter.sdsu.edu. By accessing the webpage, you can schedule tutoring appointments online at your convenience.  While limited drop-in tutoring is available, scheduling an appointment ahead guarantees you will get to meet with a tutor.  The Writing Center is open Monday-Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Writing Center is located downstairs on the first floor of the Dome--right next to the checkout counter.
  
  
• Single Google slide to display for your students. 
  
  

Consider how you ask students to use the center and what students might reasonably accomplish in a single writing center session. Please keep in mind that the writing center focuses on students’ long-term development as writers as opposed to correcting or editing student writing. In addition, we work with beginning students and advanced students, and we focus on helping students learn about becoming effective writers by discussing their current writing assignment or project with them. Finally, we keep in mind that developing as a writer is a long-term process as we each write for new and changing situations.

Requiring Visits to the Center

If you require your students to visit the center, please keep in mind that we may not be able to meet with all of them given the demands for our services. This is especially the case if you are teaching a large class and most of the students seek appointments in the last few days before an assignment is due. Please also keep in mind that some students who are required to use the center become resistant to working with a tutor. Although we do our best to engage these students, they may not have a productive session.

We only provide verification that students have visited the Writing Center when they make the request.  If students request that tutors share an account of their visit with you and provide your email address, a report about their visit will be mailed to you from our appointment system. Students receive these reports after every session. This is the only way we verify student visits, and tutors are not allowed to sign forms for students or instructors.

Keeping Us Informed

Inform us if you are asking students to use the center and share your assignment prompt and grading rubric or criteria with us.

Notify us if you are giving a take-home exam involving writing and you DO NOT allow students to use the writing center for the exam. Please also include this information in your assignment sheet for the exam.

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about how students are using the center or what happens when they have an appointment with us. We also welcome suggestions on how we can better support both students as writers and faculty as writers and teachers of writing.

Consultation on Writing Assignments

Consult with us on developing new writing assignments or revising assignments that aren't working as effectively as you would like.  The Writing Center Director, Dr. Dustin Edwards, can talk with you about your assignment by appointment. He can be reached at [email protected].

Collaborating on Writing Research

Consider partnering with us to research writing. Along with supporting student writers, we also conduct research on writing, particularly related to learning to write as a part of college education. If you have ideas for how we might collaborate with you on research projects, please let us know!