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Division of Academic and Student Affairs
Academic Success Center

Information for Instructors

On this page, you will find excerpts you can copy into your course syllabi and answers to common questions.

Syllabus Excerpts

Consider adding the following excerpts to your syllabus for undergraduate and graduate courses. This helps you make your students aware of Writing Center services.

Visit the Undergraduate Writing Center: The Undergraduate Writing Center, housed with the Academic Success Center, provides free, individualized writing suypport to all undergraduate stsudents on projects from any discipline at any stage of the writing process. Please see the ASC website to learn more and make an appointment. The Writing Center supports undergraduate writers with rhetorical analysis, cover letters, research papers, and more.

Visit the Graduate Writing Center: The Writing Center, housed within the Academic Success Center, provides free writing support to all graduate writers on both short and long-term projects at any stage in the writing process across all disciplines. Please see the ASC website to learn more and make an appointment. The Writing Center supports graduate writers with literature reviews, publications, chapter revisions, thesis projects, and more.

FAQ

Will someone come to my class to talk to my students about writing services?

We are happy to provide your students with a brief 10-15 minute introduction to our writing services! To request a presentation, please fill out our classroom visit form. If scheduling a visit doesn’t fit into the class schedule, we do encourage you to utilize our UWC and GWC videos. These can be embedded directly into Moodle or other class websites.

Classroom Visit Form

What occurs during a session?

The writing center is not a grammar fix-it shop or a proofreading service, but rather an opportunity for consultants to engage in collaborative conversation while working with students on their writing process. Consultants are trained to ask questions about the assignment, the student’s goal for the draft, and the student’s experience with writing. Student read through the draft with their consultant, most often out loud, so the consultant can provide feedback about clarity, organization, and focus. The goal of each session is to give the student choices about their work. The student is ultimately responsible for making any changes to the paper.

Do you have any online writing resources available for students?

We do! We have nearly 50 downloadable handouts about a wide range of genres and topics. Feel free to link to our handout page or include them on your class website.

How do I know a student used writing support services?

We do not send visit reports to instructors out of respect for student privacy. If the student wants documentation for a visit, they may request that the consultant complete a form documenting the visit. The ASC office will then contact the instructor.

May I require my entire class to use your services?

Please encourage your students to take advantage of writing support services; however, making a visit to the service mandatory for your entire class is not effective for the students or the program. We respectfully request that you not require your entire class to use the service. Contact the Academic Success Center to discuss ways to integrate information about our services into your class, including extra credit opportunities.

Can a student get help with a take home exam?

We will not work with students on a take home exam without your permission.