1. Writing Support at the University of Washington Adiam Tesfay and Chelsie Doherty (CLUE) and Jenny Halpin (OWRC)

2. Odegaard Writing and Research Center Basics http://depts.washington.edu/owrc (reserve your appointment online!) Open Sunday noon-7:30pm and Monday through Thursday noon-9:00pm Two appointments per week per writer (except during Finals) Multidisciplinary undergraduate and graduate peer tutors from many different fields trained to support you with all kinds of writing – academic to personal Free one-to-one, group tutoring, and writing workshops to help you become more successful and confident as writers over time

3. CLUE Writing Center Basics http://depts.washington.edu/clue/ Open Sunday-Thursday (any school night), 7- midnight (except first and last weeks of quarter) Trained tutors from different academic backgrounds Multi-disciplinary; also offers help on personal statements, applications, etc. (AKA anything in English!) Workshops on composition portfolios, résumés/cover letters Group tutoring sessions

4. New! Writing Help in the Dorms CLUE and the OWRC are now providing drop-in writing tutoring in the dorms as well! [7:00pm-10:00pm] SUNDAY: OWRC in McCarty MONDAY: CLUE in McCarty, OWRC in Poplar TUESDAY: OWRC in McCarty, CLUE in Poplar WEDNESDAY: OWRC in Poplar

5. How Writing Centers Help We focus on helping with big picture concerns, so that your writing demonstrates the quality of your thinking. These are things like: ▫Understanding your assignment or writing task ▫Outlining and brainstorming ideas ▫Improving organization of content & overall structure ▫Learning to select and analyze evidence ▫Developing your argument/claim/thesis We will NOT focus on proofreading/editing We will not write anything for you (that’s academic dishonesty)

6. What to Bring A working copy of your writing, either electronic or paper, no matter where you are in the writing process Paper and writing implement to take notes on your conversation with the tutor Another copy of your notes or draft (or the course texts) to work on while the tutor reads your essay, if you are not comfortable reading out loud At least one or two specific concerns for you and the tutor to focus on, like clarity of your argument or organization of ideas And please, please, please, come in more than one day before essay is due! You need to have time to revise!

7. Sample Questions to Have Successful use of writing centers involves knowing what to ask based on the kinds of things tutors best help with Questions like these are good examples: ▫“Can you help me figure out what more readers might need me to explain in my intro?” ▫“What do you think my professor means by ‘claim with stakes’?” ▫“Can you, as a general reader, understand what my argument is?” Questions like these are not good examples: ▫“Can you fix my grammatical errors?” ▫“How would you phrase this idea?” ▫“What grade am I going to get?”

8. What Tutors Can (and Can’t) Do for You We can be intermediaries between you and your instructors, helping you to ask better questions We are great resources for working on the craft of writing, good writing habits, and field-specific techniques to prepare you for many writing situations We are not resources for discussing every course concept in depth – you’re the expert on what’s going on in class, not us We are not a substitute for the instructor’s feedback We are not editors or proof-readers

9. What TAs Can (and Can’t) Do for You TAs are resources for understanding and discussing course content, assignment logistics, policies, expectations, and similar concerns TAs are not a resource to review minor details of assignments or estimate grades – often it is the professor who wrote the assignment and designed the grading system/rubric TAs are not likely to go over your whole essay; they will often focus on specific segments/questions, though

10. What Professors Can (and Can’t) Do for You Professors are good resources for in-depth discussion of course content and expectations; if you want to know more about the goals of the course, talk to the prof Professors are not very likely to have time to look over your whole assignment (they often have multiple large courses they are teaching, in addition to their own research) Professors are not generally as available as TAs are Professors are not a good resource to ask rudimentary/logistical questions about due dates, word count, etc.

11. So Come to a Writing Center! We don’t judge, grade, or otherwise evaluate you We love all kinds of questions that show you care about your work We are here to help when you need us We are interested in supporting you as a writer and a learner – not just on one paper but for all your classes and writing projects Our goal is for you to become a more confident writer, to know that you have the skills and strategies to successfully write as a scholar and a professional in all kinds of situations…