Who can benefit from using the Writing Center?
All writers at BCC are welcome to bring their work to the Writing Center. Tutors work with writers in all disciplines, as well as writers working on out-of-class projects such as scholarship application essays, resumes, and newsletters. Referrals can introduce to the Center students who might not otherwise use our services. Remind students of the premise that all writers, regardless of their ability, can benefit from a helpful reader's feedback; the Center's writing tutors are knowledgeable about and sensitive to the concerns of writers.
While all writers benefit from informed responses to work in progress, skilled writers are often most able to make good use of tutorial sessions. The Writing Center tutors work with writers of all skill levels, including novice writers, ESL students, and students with a variety of learning styles.
Writing Center tutors work with students individually or in small groups (2-3 students). We also offer online tutoring.
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In all cases, tutors help students think critically about their writing.
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We can help at any stage of an assignment, offering tips for: getting started; generating and organizing ideas; honing thesis statements and hypotheses; solving grammatical and citation problems; developing ways to a
address sentence-level
issues.
Other FAQs
Should I require a student or my entire class to visit the Writing Center?
Although there are drawbacks to required tutorials, we can work with you and your students to make required visits productive. If you would like to have all your students work with our tutors, please contact us prior to implementing this requirement, so we can best accommodate your needs. Consider offering incentives for students who use the Writing Center regularly.
What happens in a typical tutorial session?
The student and tutor first clarify the assignment, referring to the instructor's written guidelines. The tutor asks what the student wants to address, and will make suggestions about what he or she perceives as the most pressing issue. The student and tutor reads the work together, asking questions to prompt reflection. Together, they review the manuscript, looking for how it could be strengthened. At the end of the session, the student and tutor summarize the session and decide upon next steps. Because we often cannot address all of a student's needs in one session, we encourage them to return for additional tutoring. Will the Writing Center tutors proofread papers before my students turn them in?
While we can help students learn to edit or proofread their own work more effectively, we do not not correct papers for students. For example, if a student needs help with grammar, the tutor will explain the issue, point out a few errors in the work, and then encourage the student to look for the rest.
Will the Writing Center teach my students to use MLA or APA citation format?
We'll help your students with particular questions about how to the citation system and apply to their work, but we expect that instructors will introduce the whys and hows of appropriate citation to their classes. Additionally, we will work with instructors to design and co-facilitate workshops on citing sources.
How do I know when my students visit the Writing Center?
With the student's permission, we will send you a session feedback form. This form does not evaluate the student; it lets you know what issues the tutor and student discussed. Most instructors are glad to see that students have gone to the Writing Center to improve their writing.
How else can I use use the Writing Center?
We also work with instructors who want feedback on writing assignment design or any other issues related to using writing in the classroom. Call 778-5038 to make an appointment with the coordinator or a tutor.
As we know, even highly skilled writers benefit from feedback from outside readers. Such feedback can give rise to reflectiveness about expression and greater audience awareness. In the same way, accomplished instructors can benefit from feedback from an outside source. Such feedback can draw attention to conventional assumptions that are second-nature for faculty but unfamiliar to many of our students. By working with our staff on issues such as writing assignment design, workshop facilitation, or responding to student writing you can help your students become better writers. 
How can I encourage students to use Writing Center services?
Please suggest that students call (778-5038) or stop by the Center (L-8) to schedule an appointment. If students delay making appointments, we cannot guarantee that consultations will be available before the deadline. Suggest that students make appointments well before the paper is due, so they will have more time to revise. See our schedule.
Prompt and remind your students to visit the Center and use our services (the Writing Center's student page provides an overview).
Provide a brief description of the Center's services in your syllabus. Here's one that you can adopt & adapt:
The BCC Writing Center provides writing consultations in all courses across the curriculum — regardless of your level of experience, expertise or confidence as a writer. No matter how proficient you are, you can benefit from discussing your writing with a tutor. Usually you must make appointments to meet with Writing Center tutors; call 778-5038 or stop by (we are located in L-8). Please don't wait until the last moment: plan ahead and schedule several appointments well before your assignment is due. Tutoring services are free. Even if you get help with your writing from instructors and other students, writing tutors can help you discover additional methods for improving your writing.
Share comments from past students about the effectiveness of the Writing Center. Make an appointment yourself so that you can experience first-hand what students do. Faculty have worked with tutors on drafts of assignments. Tell students about your own writing process and how you seek feedback on your writing. Talk about how you share drafts of your writing with colleagues and other professionals. Discuss the importance of writing for students' lives and careers, and remind them that they'll need to write for multiple audiences and readers.
Share your expectations for effective writing and your criteria for grading with your students.
Offer incentives, such as extra credit for those students who attend tutoring sessions. Writing Center tours, class visits & writing workshops:
- Call us to schedule a brief class "tour" or the Writing Center.
- Invite a tutor to your class to discuss the Writing Center's services We will talk with your students about how the Writing Center can help them develop the tools they need to become proficient writers. These brief sessions help students understand how to use our services.
- We'll customize a workshop to meet the needs of your students. Past topics have included:
- Productive peer review
- Developing a thesis (including finding a topic & transforming it into a thesis)
- Organizing a paper
- Aspects of writing a research paper
- Understanding your audience
- Writing essay exams
- Writing a critical analysis
Our writing workshops are most successful when the instructor and workshop presenter collaborate, meeting beforehand to discuss the workshop's purposes and your students' specific needs. Links to Resources for Faculty
These links lead to sites offering a variety of resources for faculty, including suggestions for using writing in the classroom, ways to develop criteria for responding to writing, facilitating peer review sessions, and more.
- BCC's WINC (Writing Initiatives Network Committee)
- BCC's Writing Center Handouts for Faculty & Students
- BCC Links to Writing & Research Resources
- Research & Documentation by Diana Hacker. How to find and document sources in humanities, social sciences, history and sciences. Incredibly useful!
- The NEW WAC Clearinghouse: This is one of the best starting points for writing across the curriculum resources!
- The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker. Includes electronic writing exercises, grammar exercises, model papers, research and documentation online, a links library, and additional resources.
- University of Hawaii: Manoa Writing Program -- Great resource for teachers of "W" courses. Includes handouts covering teaching strategies such as quick tips, assignment design, using freewriting, responding to student writing, and more. A useful series of handouts about designing and facilitating peer review sessions is located at http://www.mwp.hawaii.edu/wm7.htm.
- Language and Learning Across the Curriculum-- Features a bibliography of over 300 entries, covering categories such as writing to learn and interdisciplinary writing in MANY disciplines (including mathematics, health sciences, economics, business, nursing, engineering and more). While it lacks some important recent articles and books, it's still a valuable resource.
- Purdue University OWL's Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines Index -- Includes links to some institutions that offer online materials on incorporating writing into content courses.
- National Council of Teachers of English -- Pages of information covering teaching ideas, teacher preparation, teacher talk and much more.
- University of Texas at Austin: Online Resources for Teachers -- Lists resources for using computer technology to teach writing, citing electronic sources, among others.
- University of Central Florida's Writing Center: An outstanding resource for faculty and students. Faculty handouts include writing to learn exercises which include no or little out-of-class time for instructors.
- University of Minnesota Center for Writing -- includes discipline specific strategies for teaching writing with in the social sciences, history, music, mathematics, journalism, engineering, biological sciences, business and management.
- Boise State University's Writing Center: "Word Works" -- offers useful articles covering a wide range of topics, from "Designing assignments" to "Five Fears of Writing."
- International Writing Centers Association -- an extensive list, covering topics such as essay exams, the research paper, Writing abstracts, documenting sources, plagiarism, ESL, nonsexist language. A great site for teachers and students.
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne --Information about Writing Across the Curriculum, writing in the disciplines, online tools for teachers of writing, annotated bibliographies for WAC, and general links about writing.
- Writing in the Arts and Sciences at Marquette: A Sampling of Advice from Faculty: A terrific resource for faculty and students! This site includes a department-by-department reference guide, which provides clear guidelines for writing in specific disciplines, biology, economics, math, philosophy and more. This reference guide can help students "plan your response to assignments and approach your professor with questions."
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