Fall 2007

First Day of Enrollment:
Monday, September 17

First Day of Tutoring:
Monday, September 24

Last Week of Tutoring:
December 3 - 7

NOTE: We are closed Thanksgiving WEEK, Nov. 19 - 23

 STUDENTS WHO SIGN UP EARLY ARE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL!

(They are also most likely to get the time slots they want!)

At the Douglass/Cook Writing Center, students receive individual directed assistance to develop their reading, thinking, and writing skills. The primary goal of the Writing Center is to foster students’ independence and confidence in careful reading, connective thinking, and academic writing. At the Writing Center, you will meet once a week with a tutor who will work closely with you to clarify the goals of academic writing, and assist you in meeting those goals.

At the Writing Center, your tutor will help you develop effective strategies and practices for improving your writing and completing your assignments. Your tutor will NOT “correct” your paper or give you ideas. Rather, the tutor will work with you to help you learn how to revise, complicate, and develop your own readings of texts and your own writing projects. Your success at the Writing Center begins with your own careful preparation for your tutoring sessions.

Do as much work as you can before you come to your tutoring session: if you have a reading assignment, complete it before your tutoring session; if you are working on a rough draft, bring two clean drafts as well as drafts with your peers’ and instructor’s comments. Please come to EVERY session with:

 Your book (for instance Points of Departure or The New Humanities Reader)

• All the rough and final drafts you’ve written so far (especially drafts with the teacher’s comments)
• Two copies of the draft on which you are currently working
• Your current assignment
• All of your notes and materials from class

Although one of your primary activities at the Writing Center will be working on your drafts, it is important to attend even on days when you do not have a rough draft or an assignment. DO NOT skip a session because you feel you have “nothing to do.” Instead, plan to come to every scheduled session to work on your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

The Writing Center is free. In order to enroll, you must make a commitment to attend once a week for five (5) consecutive weeks. When you enroll, we will register you for a course called “ Writing Center” (355:096). (Part-time students will not be registered, but can still come for tutoring for free.) This course carries 1.5 E credits, for which you will earn a grade based strictly on attendance. Students who regularly attend their scheduled sessions will receive a “Pass” on the transcript; students who miss 2 sessions will receive a grade of “F” on their transcripts and will be dropped from the tutoring schedule. There is no distinction between “excused” and “unexcused” absences at the Writing Center; therefore, we suggest that you make every attempt to attend all of your sessions. If you are unable to attend due to illness or emergency, it is your responsibility to notify the Writing Center at 932-8856 by 9 A.M. on the day of your session. This notification is a courtesy to the tutor; it is NOT an “excuse.” Of course, radically extenuating circumstances can be discussed with the director. 

To sign up, fill out both sides of the attached form and bring it to the Writing Center at:

135 George Street , Room 101
(Douglass Campus)

Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon; 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

You must sign up in person;
the process will take about 15 minutes for each individual registering.