Guidelines

WRITING CENTER GUIDELINES

1) We encourage making appointments in order to guarantee a session, though it is not required, and walk-ins will be accommodated when tutors are available.

2) Students cannot simply drop-off their papers; we want to sit down with them and talk about the issues they are having and assist them in any way we can.

3) We do not "correct" papers, but we do point out patterns of error and come up with a plan for how the student can best avoid that pattern in the future. Said another way, we are not an editing service. We focus on helping students make connections with the assignment, readings, texts, and broader ideas within and across courses, rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of comma placement and sentence-level mechanics.

4) We do not tell students what grade we think they might receive; we encourage them to speak to their instructors about matters of that nature.

5) We help students in all stages of the writing process: brain storming, rough drafts, final drafts. A paper does not have to be finished or perfect for us to look at it.

6) We strive to help students from all different disciplines and writing levels.

7) Students must sign-in when coming to the Writing Center, not only for tutoring, but also for using a computer and printing.

8) Printing costs 10 cents per page; we cannot change this policy, unfortunately.

9) We encourage students to bring in a prompt of their assignments, so that the tutors can be fully informed of what the student is working on.

10) Students are welcome to submit materials to our Online Writing Lab at writing.tamuc@gmail.com. We do our best to respond to these papers within 48 business hours. Please note that we only review online submissions during our normal Writing Center hours (Monday through Friday, 9-4). We encourage submissions to include any instructions or questions students might have, and we must know the citation format before we can begin. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we only review 5-6 pages of material at a time, so that everyone has a chance to have at least some of their material reviewed.

The Writing Center cannot assist with the following:

• Exam essays. Since these texts are crucial in assessing a student’s knowledge and abilities, the student’s work must stand on its own as a reflection of their progress within a course.
• Comprehensive examinations. It is the responsibility of the student to work with their thesis or dissertation advisor and committee members to ensure accuracy of the components of a comprehensive examination. Due to the nature of graduate comprehensive exams, the Writing Center cannot assist the student in preparing any element of the exam response.
• Legal documents relating to actual current or future cases awaiting litigation or judgment. This is to protect all involved from making a mistake with potential real-world consequences beyond the classroom. For assistance with legal documents, always seek a professional appropriate to the situation’s needs.