We tutor writers and writing. This is the motto that guides our work. To that end, our tutoring sessions begin with the tutor and the student setting an agenda for what needs to be accomplished during the next 45 minutes. While the student's paper may be the focus of the session, the tutor's goal is to teach the writer how to improve not just the paper at hand but also to identify - and teach - the skills and strategies the writer will need to be successful with future writing tasks..

One of the best things you can do to help student writers help themselves is to give them a carefully detailed written assignment. A well-written assignment is also an enormous help in a tutoring session. When tutors set a session agenda, they will always ask to see the assignment to determine whether the writer has understood what is being asked and seems to be responding appropriately. For assistance with designing good assignments, you may contact Dr. Terry Zawacki at tzawacki@gmu.edu and/or look at the Writing Across the Curriculum website at: http://wac.gmu.edu under "Teaching with Writing."

Along with advising students to bring a copy of the assignment, encourage your students to prepare for a tutoring session by bringing texts or handouts related to the assignment and all of the writing they have completed thus far, e.g. drafts, free-writing, journal entries, notes from class or group discussions.

What we Don't Do

Proofread:
Many students-and even some faculty-think of the writing center as an editing/proofreading service. Just as we would never allow students simply to drop off papers to be edited and picked up later, we also don't intend our face-to-face sessions to be a place for proofreading and correcting mistakes. Rather, tutors teach students how to find and fix their own errors.

Comment on grades:
As you might imagine, we see many aggrieved writers and many seeking affirmation of their abilities. Tutors are trained to give specific rather than blanket praise for things the writer has done well. They do not speculate on the grade a paper might receive nor comment on the perceived fairness of the grade a paper has received.

Tutor take-home exams without written teacher consent:
To receive tutoring on a take-home exam, the student must present the tutor with your written consent. If it is your policy to allow all students to receive tutoring on take-home exams, students may show the tutor the policy on your syllabus or on the exam itself.

Number of Sessions a Student May Book:

Students may make up to ten appointments a semester to work on their writing with a tutor. For many students, this number is not enough; however, we must ensure that we are able to offer tutoring to the large numbers of students wishing to use our services. Because we want to promote good writing and revising practices, we allow students to make up to three appointments with the same tutor to work through several drafts of a paper.

Booking a session:

Students may schedule an appointment at any of our four sites as well as at our online OWL site by visiting the writing center home page at: http://writingcenter.gmu.edu. Sessions begin on the half hour and last for 45 minutes. Students may forfeit a session if they are over ten minutes late. After two "no-shows" for scheduled appointments, they are prohibited from booking any further appointments.

Session reports, confidentiality, and visit verification:

After every session, tutors write up a session report, describing the content of the session and the skills they worked on with the student. Because we believe it is very important to build a sense of trust between tutors and our student clients, we always ask at the start of a session whether the student will allow session information to be given to teachers who inquire or whether they prefer confidentiality. In most cases, students don't mind allowing teachers access to these reports. If students ask, we give them a "Visit Verification" slip to give to their teacher. The slip describes the work that was accomplished in the session. In no case is a student given this slip if he/she did not accomplish meaningful work in the session.

Referring a student for tutoring:

The simplest way to refer a student is to send him/her to the writing center with a note explaining what you think he/she needs to accomplish in the session. You may want to suggest that the student make several appointments, so that improvement carries over from one writing task to the next. Visit verification slips can keep you apprised of the student's progress. You may also wish to call or stop by the center to check on your student. If he/she has waived confidentiality, we'll be happy to show you the session report.

Requiring all students in the class to visit the writing center:

While we always appreciate your support of the writing center and your attention to student writing, we also know from experience that it isn't a good use of writing center resources to require students to visit when they may not have a pressing reason to do so. When sessions are required for all students, our schedule becomes overloaded, and, in many cases, the students are resentful of having to come for tutoring and/or may not wish to accomplish any meaningful work or even stay for a whole session. In turn, students who want and need appointments are not able to get them because we are fully booked. For that reason, we ask that you make specific referrals for students who need assistance to write successful papers, as described above.

Giving extra credit for writing center visits:

Again, we applaud your efforts to make students aware of the resources available to them; however, "extra credit" appointments also tend to use up our limited session availability with many students staying only for the amount of time it takes to verify that they have shown up. To make the most effective use of the "extra credit" option, we suggest that you give students specific directions about what is to be accomplished in the session in order to receive credit. We will be happy to explain on a Visit Verification slip whether their and your objectives were met.