The Writers' Workshop staff is comprised of graduate student and faculty consultants from a variety of backgrounds. Chosen for their writing ability and teaching experience, the consultants receive ongoing training and professional development.

We urge students in any discipline, at any stage in the writing process, and at any level to visit the Writers' Workshop. At the same time, the goals of both the writer and the Workshop are typically best met when writers seek the assistance of their own volition. If required to work with a consultant, students may view the demand as a punishment rather than a learning opportunity.

In addition, sheer numbers prevent us from being able to become a required part of course or work expectations.

For these reasons, we ask that you avoid assigning Writers' Workshop appointments, particularly to entire classes. However, we appreciate that you strongly encourage writers to work with one of our consultants and look forward to meeting with them.

While we're eager to have you encourage your students to work with consultants in the Writers' Workshop, we ask that you refrain from offering students the option of visiting the Workshop rather than participating in peer review or offering extra credit for coming to the Workshop.

First, the sessions we hold involve an extended conversation between the writer and consultant. This necessarily requires writers to take an active role and to be engaged in the session. In our experience, those who come only to avoid an in-class peer review or to receive extra points are often less likely to actively participate in this process or to seriously consider revising their drafts. This not only makes the session less effective than it could be but also results in making the appointment slot unavailable to those writers who do want to participate fully in the process. Since we serve the entire campus community—undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff—we need to allocate our resources wisely, working with those who truly desire to improve their writing.

In addition, sending writers to the Workshop rather than having them participate in peer review denies them the opportunity to give, as well as receive, constructive criticism, a skill they will definitely need to hone regardless of the career they ultimately pursue as professionals. The peer-review process differs in significant ways from a session with one of our consultants, primarily because the role of a consultant is not the same as that of a peer. At the same time, we highly encourage writers to visit the Workshop as they prepare for peer review or as they consider comments from a peer during the revision process.

Please note that we're also happy to work with faculty members who have a special request for the Workshop for a particular assignment or want to make an assignment more effective. Please contact Jill Jenson to discuss these appointments. We want to help students meet your writing goals for them as well as the goals they set for themselves.

Our writing consultants will work with any undergraduate or graduate student at any skill level and at any stage in the writing process. While we do not proofread or edit papers, we are happy to help writers learn strategies for finding and correcting their own errors. Our primary focus is on larger concerns, such as organization, structure, cohesion, development, coherence, and so on. We have conversations with writers in order to develop their skills, rather than doing the work for them. Consultants will help students try to understand writing assignments or comments made on written work, but they do not offer their opinions of the assignment itself or the instructor who gave it. Likewise, grades are strictly between the students and their instructors. We do not predict the grade a writer might get nor do we comment on a grade the writer has received.

Remind your students to locate the assignment sheet or whatever guidelines they were given for the course requirement they are writing. Students should bring these materials to in-person sessions or have them ready electronically. If not an assignment, they should prepare other relevant materials; for example, they should have the job posting if they want to discuss a cover letter for a job application. For in-person sessions, they should also print a hard copy of whatever they have written so far, even if it is a very early draft. Finally, encourage students to read about consultants' backgrounds in order to find a good fit for the type of writing they are doing.

You can also send students to our Appointment Information page.

While the Writers' Workshop does not send notifications of student visits to faculty or staff, a summary of each session is sent via email to any person who works with a consultant. Students may choose to share that summary with their instructors or supervisors, but that is their responsibility. Due to privacy concerns, we cannot sign a document verifying a student's visit.

Individual faculty members must decide whether to allow students to see a writing consultant to discuss a take-home exam. Such permission must be given in writing on the exam instructions, on a syllabus, or through a separate document. If you want to prohibit students from seeing a consultant regarding a take-home exam, it's best to notify the Writers' Workshop at [email protected] or Jill Jenson well before the exam date.

Yes! The Writers' Workshop is open to all staff, faculty, and students on campus.