Frequently Asked Questions: By Instructors

Index:
What is the Writing Center?
Who works at the Center?
Where is the Writing Center?
How does a student see a Writing Center consultant?
What is the educational philosophy of the Writing Center?
Will someone in the Writing Center proofread my students' work?
What other services are NOT offered by the Writing Center?
Can students bring essay exams to the Writing Center?
How can an instructor include the Writing Center in the classroom?
 

What is the Writing Center? The Writing Center at Collin offers free assistance with any project that requires writing to all students and members of the community.

Consultants work with students individually, usually on writing tasks assigned by you, the instructor. Consultants are trained to help students by asking open-ended questions that encourage students to think about their assignments/topics in new ways. In short, they act as second readers of texts. Consultants offer more direct guidance only as appropriate (such as helping non-native speakers of English with issues in grammar and usage).

Consultants are also available to work with staff and faculty on a space-available basis.

The Writing Center is a unit of the Communication and Humanities Division, though students from any discipline are encouraged to use the services of the Center. We are happy to assist students with any writing assignment, regardless of major or course.         [ top ]

Who works at the Center? Writing Center consultants are primarily English instructors, though we also have some other degreed professionals.  All consultants are trained to assist students with any stage of the writing process, from generating ideas to polishing final drafts. [ top ]

Where is the Writing Center? The Writing Center is located in the library at each campus. [ top ]

How does a student see a Writing Center consultant? Appointments are taken on a first-come, first-served basis and last forty-five minutes. Walk-in visits may be available as well.

We also have an Online Writing Lab accessible through our web site. Students can post questions about their writing or submit drafts for response via our easy-to-use form.         [ top ]

What is the educational philosophy of the Writing Center? We provide a friendly, constructive, student-centered environment in which writers may work to develop confidence in their own writing skills and develop strategies to increase the effectiveness of their own writing techniques; thus, our emphasis is on the writing process rather than on the written product.

Since we view writing as a process, we discourage the idea that the Writing Center is a "trauma center" or "fix-it shop" for "bad" writing. We strive to work with students over time, pointing out patterns of errors as well as working together to improve issues, such as audience awareness, coherence, organization, topic development, sentence structure, and diction.

Please be assured that we will neither supply students with the words to express their ideas nor give them the ideas to express. Instead, we ask students the questions that they may not think to ask themselves, thereby endeavoring to help students find appropriate methods of expression and to guide them in finding their own methods of articulating these ideas.

Our hope is that after using our services, students will take the skills they have learned in the Writing Center and apply them to their own unsupervised writing. [ top ]

Will someone in the Writing Center proofread students' work? Because we believe strongly in our educational philosophy, we do not offer proofreading or editing services. Instead, we work with students to find patterns of errors in their writing and suggest methods for locating these errors. [ top ]

What other services are NOT offered by the Writing Center? We do not guarantee a "perfect" paper or that a student will leave the Writing Center with an "A" paper. Indeed, we do not guarantee any grade, and we do not give the students any indication of what their final grade for that assignment might be; we feel that grades are at the sole discretion of instructors.

In keeping with the College’s policies on plagiarism, we will not write papers for students, and we will not type papers. [ top ]

Can students bring essay exams to the Writing Center? They can, though we ask students to make sure that they have their instructors' permission to do so. If instructors do not want students to bring in exams, they should inform their classes. [ top ]

How can an instructor include the Writing Center in the classroom?

Please consider using one or more of the following ideas:

o                Encourage students to make appointments early in the writing process so they can receive help in all   stages of the writing process.

o                Encourage your students, regardless of their writing ability, to come to the Writing Center.

o                Keep your writing assignments (and any special instructions) on file with the Writing Center for easy access during consultations.

o                Include a brief description of the Writing Center and our services along with our location and phone number in your syllabus. [ top ]