The Rose Warner Writing and Critical Thinking Center supports student writers in all programs and on all CSS campuses by offering a variety of forms of writing assistance. Our work is rooted in friendly, non-judgmental support that provides encouragement and collaborative feedback from trained peers and experts.

We align our Center’s philosophy of writing and providing writing support with the College of St. Scholastica’s core Benedictine values:

Community. We strive to build confidence in writers in a safe, inclusive, and non-judgmental space.

Hospitality. All students who attend CSS are welcome, from any degree program and from any campus location.

Respect. We value the work of the writer no matter at what stage it is in the process. 

Stewardship. We recognize the student’s work is the student’s, not the consultant’s, and that the student has complete ownership. We in no way rewrite, cross out, alter or rearrange text unless granted permission by the writer and all revisions remain collaborative in nature.

Love of Learning. One doesn’t learn to write overnight—it is a (slow) process to discover skills in brainstorming and organizing ideas and to develop skills in composing, revising, and editing a text. After using the writing center, we hope students apply and practice what they learned long-term. 

Writing is a complex art and craft that each of us have a responsibility to develop as thinkers and professionals. We strive to help all students take new, rhetorically grounded approaches to writing. 

So, while we do pay attention to pesky comma splices, in-text citations, and probe ideas using our sharpened critical thinking skills, our approach starts by considering our relationships with ourselves, others, and the world. We do this as a way to fulfill the College of St. Scholastica’s mission statement of humanistic exploration of engagement of the “whole” person as a fundamental objective of a sound and comprehensive education. 

Rose Warner established the Lee and Rose Warner Foundation in memory of her husband, Lee Frost Warner. Her goal was to share his generous spirit and to provide educational opportunities to those who otherwise would not have them. In particular, she recognized the unique need for women's education. In 1967, the College received its first grant from her foundation for a lecture series. Currently, CSS benefits from the Warner's endowed gifts that support an endowed professorship, the Peace and Justice Lecture Series, the Warner Reading Series, and the writing center.