The UP Writing Center—an awesome peer-tutoring resource that can help student writers from any discipline—is open for the Fall 2024 semester. We count on faculty to get the word out to students about this valuable resource, so please consider encouraging your students to seek us out. Students can meet their Writing Assistant in person in the Learning Commons (BC 163) or online. Our 21 Writing Assistants (WAs), representing majors and colleges from across UP, can help writers from all disciplines, at all levels, and at any stage of the process, from brainstorming ideas, understanding assignments, outlining, to revising.
Students can book appointments through our online scheduler and explore our website for writing-related resources. Note that in addition to making appointments through the Writing Center, students can request a “Dedicated Writing Assistant” for regular meetings throughout the term and faculty may request a “Dedicated Class Assistant” to assist students from a particular class.
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:
- 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.
- In addition to being available for half-hour appointments via the online scheduler, WAs are also available during drop-in hours at the Learning Commons.
- 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.).
- Flesh-and-blood writing assistance has some clear advantages over AI; remind your students that they can lean on our Writing Assistants for support and that visiting the Writing Center can help alleviate their anxiety and provide companionship during the writing process.
A highly 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 classroom to give a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email our hotline writing@up.edu with the date, time and place of the class you’d like a Writing Assistant to visit and we’ll get back to you shortly.
UP no longer requires students in writing-embedded courses (English 112 and Philosophy 150) to purchase the Pocket Cengage Handbook, so if you’d like to refer your students to a reputable resource for issues of grammar, mechanics, and citation, we recommend the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
Would you like a designated Writing Assistant to work with you and your students this term? Do you need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Help with strategies for evaluating student writing? Email Sara Weiger (weiger@up.edu) for additional information.
The Group Work Lab, housed in UP’s Learning Commons, is open and ready to assist groups of students—whether for class projects or campus groups hoping to reorganize and refocus their work. Students can book an appointment for their group through the 
The shift to remote courses has given us the opportunity to revisit how we support student learning in our classes and other academic learning assistance programs. In 
While faculty across the country plan courses, teach, and meet with students during office hours, there are nationally thriving peer-assisted learning communities of practice from which educators can learn or revisit approaches for engaging students in higher education. Learning Commons director Jeffrey White shares the first of a two-part series on how the Learning Commons’ new PAL program can inform us as we interact with students and learning in virtual environments and plan for an eventual return to face-to-face teaching and learning. 
The Learning Commons invites all students to connect with peer tutors, writing assistants, and speech and presentation consultants as an effective learning strategy for greater success in their college courses. Working with our tutors also makes your online learning experience at UP more social. This summer, we offer students the following online tutoring programs in Microsoft Teams:
The Learning Commons will operate on a reduced schedule during finals week. Content tutors and the Writing Center’s writing assistants will be available by appointment only on a limited basis. Writing and math tutor schedules are on WCONLINE at 
The Learning Commons is now running all programs online, and student usage is up from the first week of online instruction, according to director Jeffrey White. By encouraging your students to connect with a peer tutor, you might help them to connect more deeply to learning and studying online while engaging socially with our peer tutors. 
When students come to the Learning Commons for content tutoring, they often could use more work on how to study in general as well as the content area. How one approaches studying in one discipline varies from other disciplines, and how one approaches studying often impacts the grade earned by a student. The Learning Commons is launching a new pilot program to support students’ metacognitive approaches to studying. You can learn more about the program at 
Just in time to start thinking about your spring course planning, Jeffrey White, Learning Commons, offers 7 minutes of advice answering the question“What Course Design Principles Enhance Student Learning?” in