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1. Can any student use the Writing Center, even if a teacher does not recommend it? Any University of Iowa (UI) student -- undergraduate or graduate, American or international -- can use the Writing Center. 2. Do the services at the Writing Center cost anything? No. An individual student does not pay for the services with money, but does contribute time to benefit her or his own writing. 3. How do I know if I would benefit from using the Writing Center? Any writers who want feedback on any aspect of writing could use the services of the Writing Center. You would especially benefit from the Writing Center if you are feeling insecure about your writing, if you are anxious or apprehensive about writing, if you are dissatisfied with your skills, or if you find yourself procrastinating. You may also be referred to the Writing Center by an instructor. 4. Must I sign up to use the Writing Center, or can I just drop off my work to be read and pick it up later? The Writing Center is not a drop-off service. To use the Writing Center, you must either enroll and commit to attending two 50-minute periods a week or sign-up for one 30-minute appointment. We believe that the best way to become a better writer is for you to enroll in the twice-a-week program. The Writing Center focuses on helping students improve their writing, not on merely "fixing" one individual piece of writing. The goal of the Writing Center is to improve writers, not pieces of writing, thus the active involvement of the writer is central to the process. 5. What if I am too busy to commit to the Writing Center twice a week? If you need one-time help on an assignment, you may sign-up for a 30-minute appointment outside the door of the Writing Center. Appointments are available Monday-Thursday 6-8pm and Friday 10am-2pm. However, appointments are available on a first-come first-served basis and tend to fill up quickly; new sign-up sheets are posted on a weekly basis. The most efficient way to use a 30-minute appointment is to come with very specific questions for the tutor. Do not simply bring a paper and ask the tutor to proofread it. Occasionally, we may be able to arrange a regular once-a-week slot in which you can enroll. But even though this option may appeal to you in the short term, you should consider your longterm needs. As the semester progresses, and your assignments become more frequent and difficult, you may want to increase your one-hour weekly commitment, but find that the Writing Center's twice weekly slots have already filled up. Although you will retain your one-hour slot, the Writing Center might not be able to accommodate your need for increased time with a tutor. 6. Do I see the same tutor each time? Yes, if you choose to enroll. For the entire semester, you will work with the same tutor twice a week. Occasionally, due to illness or another reason, a tutor may need to miss a session. If that happens, every effort will be made to reschedule you or find a substitute tutor from the Center. In the Friday and evening sessions, you may not be able to see the same tutor each time you sign up. 7. Will my tutor have other students during my time? Yes. Usually one tutor alternates between two students within that fifty-minute period, working with one student while the other writes (and vice versa). 8. Will I work on course assignments during a session? Depending on their individual needs, students work on course assignments or on writing prompts, called "invitations," kept on file. Often when students do not have a writing assignment for a class, they write in response to these invitations. Also, students do not always need to have a paper completely written before their session. Sometimes the session is used for brainstorming ideas in response to a course assignment that the student has not yet begun, or for organizing a rough draft. Together, your tutor and you determine the plan you will follow. 9. If my projects are in a specialized technical field, can the Writing Center still help me? Yes. Although they may not have content knowledge in your field, the tutors can help you with your style, sentence structure, and organization. They can serve as outside readers who can point to areas that need more information or clarity. 10. If English is my second language, may I enroll in the Writing Center? Yes, you may as long as you have completed all your ESL courses if you are an undergraduate student, and as long as you have not been held for ESL writing if you are a graduate student. 11. May I do creative writing in the Writing Center? Creative writing is not only welcomed, but actually encouraged and even published in the Writing Center's publication Voices. Often students contribute nonfiction essays about their lives or cultures that they have written in response to invitations (those writing prompts) or Rhetoric assignments. Voices, which is published once every semester, also includes fiction and poetry. 12. What if I have problems with reading comprehension? The tutors in the UI Writing Center are available to help with reading, too. For example, to help you better participate in class discussion for one of your courses, you and your Writing Center tutor might tackle a reading assignment by having her or him "assign" a hypothetical response paper in which you could organize your thoughts about the reading content. Then, when you and your tutor review this informal response, you will have another opportunity to practice discussing the material and clarify whether you comprehend it fully. In addition to working on course reading assignments, you also could work on comprehension by reading, writing about, and discussing short articles from the magazines or books in the Writing Center. Remember to discuss your individual needs with your Writing Center tutor in an early session. 13. When I write in the Writing Center, will I use pencil and paper or a computer? Both are acceptable. If you prefer composing on a computer, bring along a disk on which you can save and take your work. The Writing Center has several Macintosh and PC computers and a printer. 14. How do I sign up? To enroll in twice-weekly sessions, come to the Writing Center (110 EPB) during regular hours (M-TH, 9:30am-3:30pm), fill out an enrollment card, and see which available time slots fit your class schedule. Try to come early in the semester or at least when you realize you could use some help. To sign-up for a one-time appointment, write your name on the appointment sheets posted outside our door. For both enrollment and appointments, please contact us if you need to cancel for any reason. 15. What if no enrollment slots remain? You should still fill out an enrollment card. There is a waiting list on which center tutors will place your name. When a slot opens that fits your schedule, a tutor will notify you. |