Department of English

Services Available: for Students

Who are we?

Students just like you who want to learn and who know that all writers need readers! Our services are funded by composition course fees, so helping ENGL 1010 and 2010 students is our top priority. However, we are happy to aid any SUU writer who needs friendly guidance.

What do we do?

All of the tutors on our staff are English students who are good writers themselves. All of us are more than pleased to assist you with any concerns you may have regarding your writing, including the following:

• Brainstorming your ideas
• Developing your thesis
• Organizing your thoughts
• Drafting your paper
• Revising your rough draft
• Practicing grammar concepts
• Using and documenting sources

As you can see from this list, we do a lot more than just "correct" your papers. Each Writing Center session is devoted to helping you further develop yourself as a learner and a writer. For that reason, we focus on creating an interactive environment by responding to your evolving ideas and offering you feedback on how effectively you are communicating them to an academic audience. Please don't expect us to proofread or edit papers for you. Instead, come to see us when you want to sit down to talk to someone who can give you the kind of information and support you need to take confident responsibility for your writing. We hope you're excited about the power that learning to write well can give you. We can guarantee that we're excited by what you have to say.

How do I get help from you?

Although you can just drop into the Writing Center and wait in line for a tutor, you'll do yourself (and us!) a favor by stopping by to sign up in advance for an appointment. You request for a session as short as a half hour or as long as two hours. Please remember that we may not be able to accommodate you during midterm and finals weeks unless you sign up several days in advance.

Once you're here, the time is yours! You can ask us to brainstorm with you, read over your thoughts, help you revise a paper, review a professor's comments on recently returned work, or just talk about how your class is working out for you. Once the session has ended, we will ask you to fill out an Evaluation Form and drop it in the Evaluation Box at your convenience. Like you, we too are still learning, and we'd love to get feedback from you!

Can you really help me?

Yes!! Hear what other students had to say in our evaluation forms:

• "She basically helped me in every way possible. She helped me realize I did know what I was doing and I can write. I just needed a little help. PROBLEM SOLVED!"
• "She made me feel like I am not alone."
• "I didn't have an appointment, and he still dropped everything to assist me."
• "It's the best form of constructive criticism. I feel like they want me to succeed."
• "You have me ideas. [You] could relate to what I was saying."
• "This really helped me a lot and gave me a lot of good ideas."
• "I was able to put my thoughts into one sentence!"
• "She helped me make my supporting evidence for my paper more concrete."
• "I better understand how to organize my paper and develop my argument throughout the body."

How do I start?

Want to find out more, set up an appointment, or just drop by? Come visit us!

| Writing Center | English |