Writing Center

Faculty: Please Promote the Writing Center in Your Classes!

January 22, 2021

The Writing Center is gearing up for another virtual semester of helping student writers at any stage of the writing process, at any level, and in any discipline, according to director Molly Hiro, English. The center’s 23 writing assistants (WAs) held hundreds of Zoom appointments last fall, and are ready to field that many more in Spring term. Students book appointments through the online scheduler (see our website at this link for more), and when their appointment time comes, meet face to face on Zoom with their writing assistants. Students can also email writing@up.edu to request an appointment time outside of our scheduled available times.

Faculty, please consider plugging the Writing Center in your classes and encouraging students to use our services. One of the best means of getting students to bring their work-in-progress to a Writing Center appointment is for faculty themselves to encourage them to do so (some professors require at least one visit; some give extra credit to students for using our services). When talking to your students about the UP Writing Center, you might keep in mind the following:

Our goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means we don’t “fix” papers; we work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, we focus on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
While our Writing Assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
When a student meets with a Writing Assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and Writing Assistant worked on (This is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit, e.g.).
An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for our services is to invite a Writing Assistant to drop in to your online classroom to give a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email our hotline at writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a Writing Assistant to visit and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Lastly, remember that all Moodle pages have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”

The Writing Center website also includes other writing-related resources for faculty. Here you can find information about using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page to help you detect cases of plagiarism and foster student writing integrity.

As the director of the Writing Program and the Writing Center, Hiro is happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester. Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? She may not have all the answers, but feel free to contact her any time at hiro@up.edu.

Writing Center Ready to Help Writers Online This Fall

August 28, 2020

After a successful test run in the spring, the Writing Center is gearing up for a fully remote fall, and the center is counting on UP faculty to get the word out that writing assistants (WAs) are ready and able to help UP writers throughout the term. WAs can help writers from all disciplines, at all levels, and at any stage of the process, including brainstorming ideas, understanding assignments, outlining, and revising.

Online appointments can be made through the appointment scheduler. When it’s time for the meeting, students simply click on “Meet online” and the 30- or 60-minute appointment will happen over Zoom. Students can also email writing@up.edu to request an appointment time outside of regularly scheduled available times.

New this year, the center is offering a limited number of “dedicated writing assistants” to work directly with writing-intensive courses. If you’re interested in having a writing assistant assigned to your course (to introduce the Writing Center to your students, meet with you to talk over assignments and expectations, and serve as the go-to writing assistant for any student from your class), please reach out to Writing Center Director Molly Hiro (hiro@up.edu) for more details.

One of the best means of getting students to bring their work-in-progress to the Writing Center is for faculty themselves to encourage them to do so (some professors require at least one visit; some give extra credit to students for using our services). When talking to your students about the UP Writing Center, you might keep in mind the following:

The center’s goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means writing assistants don’t “fix” papers; they work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, the focus is on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
While writing assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
You may have found that your students weren’t able to find appointment times in past semesters, especially in early fall as we await the newly trained writing assistants to come on staff. That problem has been fixed this semester; the new writing assistants are prepared to begin working earlier in the term—so reassure students that if they want writing help, they should be able to get it!
When a student meets with a writing assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and writing assistant worked on (this is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit).
An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for the center’s services is to invite a writing assistant to drop in to your online classroom to give a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a writing assistant to visit and the center will get back to you shortly.
Lastly, remember that all Moodle pages have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”

To foster student writing integrity at UP (i.e., find cases of plagiarism when they occur), consider using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page. Instructions for using this paper-authentication software can be found 0n the Learning Commons website.

All of your students should possess a common writing handbook—The Pocket Cengage Handbook—as it’s required in their two writing-embedded courses. The Cengage Handbook helps keep our campus on the same page when it comes to grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and basic expectations for essay writing across the university. If you need a desk copy of this reference, please contact the Writing Center director by the second week of the semester.

“As the director of the Writing Program and the Writing Center, I am happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester,” says Molly Hiro, English. “Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? I may not have all the answers, but feel free to try me!”

Contact Hiro at hiro@up.edu.

UP Writing Center and Integrated Writing Program: At Your Service

January 17, 2020

The Integrated Writing Program and the Writing Center are gearing up to serve the UP community in spring 2020. The Writing Center (BC 163) is a completely free resource, staffed with trained writing assistants who can help students at all levels, from all disciplines, at all stages of the writing process. The center opens for the spring semester on Tuesday, January 21 (open daily except Saturdays). Please visit the Writing Center website at this link to learn more and make appointments.

Our goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means we don’t “fix” papers; we work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, we focus on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
While our Writing Assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
When a student meets with a Writing Assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and Writing Assistant worked on (This is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit, e.g.).
An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for our services is to invite a Writing Assistant to visit your classroom with a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email our hotline at writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a Writing Assistant to visit and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Lastly, all Moodle pages now have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”

To foster student writing integrity at UP, consider using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page. Instructions for using this paper-authentication software can be found here.

All of your students should possess The Pocket Cengage Handbook as it’s required in their two writing-embedded courses. The Cengage Handbook helps keep our campus on the same page when it comes to grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and basic expectations for essay writing across the university. If you need a desk copy of this reference, please contact the Writing Center director by the second week of the semester.

Finally, as director of the Integrated Writing Program and the Writing Center, Molly Hiro is happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester. Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? Hiro may not have all the answers, but feel free to ask at hiro@up.edu or x8031.