Consultative Resources

RESOURCES FOR WRITING SUPPORT

Several types of resources are available to develop and strengthen the writing skills of graduate students.

1. Credit Courses: Each semester two courses in writing are offered specifically for graduate students -- no undergraduates can enroll in these courses. In order to enroll, a student must be working on current projects, such as summaries, critiques, and proposals required in class.

• English 497G - Thesis and Dissertation Writing Workshop - is a three-credit graduate course designed for students whose native language is English.

• SpCom 497G - Thesis and Dissertation Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English - is a three- credit graduate course designed for non-native English students.

2. In both of these courses, you will receive individual help throughout the semester with your nursing program writing assignments. For the times and registration numbers of these courses each semester, check the listing of courses on the Web at http://www.registrar.psu.edu/.

3. Non-credit Workshops: The Graduate School offers a number of workshops each semester on aspects of writing, such as developing effective sentence structure, reducing wordiness, organizing ideas, understanding grammar, and using documentation. Most of these workshops are offered in the evening or on Saturdays; some are on one day and others include several sessions. Flyers on fall and spring workshops will be sent to the various graduate programs.

4. Penn State Writing Center: Some support is available through the writing centers on the University Park campus in 219 Boucke Building. The center is staffed primarily by undergraduates who have been trained in basic grammar and style concepts.

5. Graduate Writing Center: The Graduate Communication Enhancement Program, in cooperation with the Graduate Student Association, provides a Graduate Writing Center in the Graduate Commons, 111-L Kern Building. The Graduate Writing Center provides trained, friendly, and free peer consulting for graduate students of all disciplines and all levels of writing ability.

6. Writers are invited to schedule appointments for one-to-one collaborative discussions about theses, dissertations, seminar papers, proposal, or whatever writing projects students are currently undertaking. These discussions of writing seek both to generate productive feedback about specific projects and to improve students’ writing and critical thinking abilities in general.

7. The CON uses the APA Manual for writing. Students are responsible for applying the most recent publication of the manual of the American Psychological Association.

UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL CONSULTING CENTER

The Statistical Consulting Center (SCC) is a team of faculty, staff and graduate students in the Department of Statistics at Penn State. The Statistical Consulting Center was created to offer the University a statistical support service for new research in various disciplines. Their consultants are statistical graduate students, professors and professionals trained in classical and new statistical techniques that will guide you in developing strong hypotheses and sound decisions. The SCC invites you to visit their web site https://scc.stat.psu.edu/ to learn more about the SCC’s activities in research collaboration, training and short-term consulting.

CENTER FOR NURSING RESEARCH STATISTICAL CONSULTATION

Dr. Diane Berish is available to provide consultative services on quantitative design and analytic approaches. This service is available to faculty, graduate students, and honors students in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. For example, think of Dr. Berish if you need assistance with:

1. Initial design and/or analytic plan for project proposal for submission to funding agency

2. Design and/or analysis plan of preliminary studies with intent to pursue subsequent funding

3. Tutorial assistance in quantitative methods/statistics

4. Thesis: proposal development/analysis plan/reporting results

Request service via https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6M7hQBldGsiP5C5.

GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH SERVICES

During fall and spring semesters, the SCC can provide 2 FREE consulting sessions to students working on Ph.D. research. You will meet with a statistics graduate student who is taking a practicum in statistical consulting.

There is no charge for this assistance and the sessions are supervised.

NOTE: They do not offer consulting services for classroom assignments.

For all of the above services, a Request for Statistical Consulting form must be filled out and submitted to the SCC. To obtain a Request for Statistical Consulting form, you may do any of the following:

1. Contact SCC at https://scc.stat.psu.edu/contact-us/.

2. Go to the SCC at 323 Thomas Building anytime Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and pick up a form.

3. Visit their web site (https://scc.stat.psu.edu/appointments/) and download a form. E-mail: scc@stat.psu.edu.