What to Expect from Your Session – Writing Center

What to Expect From Your Writing Center Session

Is the Writing Center for me?
Are you a student at Siena Heights University? Do you have an assignment that requires writing? If you answered “yes” to these two questions, then the Writing Center is for you. All writers, at any stage of the writing process, at any level, and in any discipline, can benefit from a Writing Center session.

Step 1: Schedule an Appointment Through Navigate or stop by the SHU library to make an appointment.

Step 2: Before your appointment
Your tutor will email you an invite for a scheduled Teams meeting. If you have a rough draft of your work and/or the assignment, you can send them to your tutor in advance in your reply so they can prepare for your session.
Step 3: At the time of your appointment
Come prepared for your session and arrive on time in-person or log in (by clicking the link sent to you by your tutor). You should be prepared to take notes and have a general idea of what you’d like to discuss. 

What to expect from your visit to the SHU Writing Center
The Writing Center at Siena Heights University is staffed by undergraduate students who are strong writers as well as communicators. You should expect to work in a collaborative and energetic environment. The process of writing begins with the process of thinking. Peer Writing Consultants are trained to ask questions and guide writers through the process of making decisions about their own work.

When working with students, Peer Writing Consultants WILL

  • help students understand assignments
  • guide students through pre-writing strategies
  • encourage students to read their drafts aloud, while asking open-ended questions
  • teach students to edit their own writing by showing them areas that need to be strengthened
  • provide appropriate feedback
  • direct students to helpful resources

Peer Writing Consultants WILL NOT

  • make drastic decisions that alter the entire focus of the papers
  • simply proofread or correct papers for students without explaining why corrections are necessary
  • write passages for students’ papers
  • share private information that is disclosed in essays with other individuals

In other words, the writing center is not simply an editing center. The student who shares their work to the writing center is the WRITER and must take full responsibility for their own writing. There should be no expectation that the tutors will ensure a “good grade” or “fix everything.” Undergraduate writing consultants are not professional editors and should not be used as such.