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INFORMATION FOR INSTRUCTORS
The goal of the Writing Center
is to help students learn to improve their writing through working with
them on specific pieces of writing. The tutors are trained to engage students
in a discussion of their drafts. Generally they begin with such issues
as focus, development of argument, and organization since these usually
need to be attended to before work on editing can begin. The tutors do
not edit or "clean up" students' papers for them, but they do
work with students to help them recognize recurring errors and to learn
to correct them. The papers of students with major writing difficulties
may not show significant improvement after only one or two sessions. Such
students may need to visit the Center a number of times to achieve substantial
progress.
Faculty are very important in informing students about the Writing Center.
When discussing the Center with your students, it would be helpful
if you would emphasize the following:
1.The Center's purpose is to help students learn to improve their writing,
not to edit or proofread their papers for them.
2. Students should visit the Center as far in advance of an assignment's
due date as possible in order to allow sufficient time for revising. Students
who make an appointment on the date a paper is due are not making appropriate
use of the Center's services.
Students usually visit the Center on their own initiative, although some
are specifically advised or even required to come by instructors. When
you send individual students to the Center, it would help the tutors
if you would describe on the students' papers or in a note the problems
in
their writing which you think should be addressed first. Records are
kept of every student visit to the Center, so if you would like to know
whether
a student has had an appointment at the Center or what was covered in
a session, you may call or stop by to inquire. In turn, the tutors may
sometimes advise students to consult with their professors or TA's if
they seem uncertain about the requirements of an assignment or confused
about the material presented in it. Please do not require an entire class
to visit the Writing Center, as experience has shown that this strains
our resources and is not productive for a number of students.
For questions about
Writing Center services and policies, contact Jillian Mason-Possemato,
the Director of the Writing Center, at 777-6725 or email: jmason1@binghamton.edu.