Kyle Lowe/The Collegian
Some students receive a term paper back from their professor with red ink splattered across the white page. The corrections and suggestions make no sense to them.
Sound familiar?
The Writing Center is a free service aimed to help students on any stage of the writing process by one-on-one or in a group tutorial.
The Writing Center is nestled in the heart of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development building in room 184.
In addition to one-on-one and group tutorials, the Writing Center offers an online submission of drafts and a one-unit class with tutors twice a week.
Group tutorials are the most popular workshops at the Writing Center. Students meet with a peer tutor and two other students for one hour, twice a week.
“I think that any writer that seeks feedback on their writing should come to the center,” Magda Gilewicz, director of the Writing Center and English professor, said. “Every writer has times when they have difficulties. Even proficient writers struggle when new demands are put on them.”
Although the Writing Center has been on campus for 30 years, some students don’t remember this service until their English professors mention it.
“I think that our location is part of the reason that people do not frequent the center, because we are on the fringes of campus, not in the center,” Gilewicz said. “The places in the library get more attention because of the central location and that is where everyone is now.”
The budget cuts over the last couple of years have also reduced the knowledge of the Writing Center to the campus. This last year the budget for the Writing Center was cut by 20 percent after no change since 1995. Because of cuts the Writing Center had to turn away 200 people for the one-unit course.
“In the last two years I have not advertised the center as much because of the budget cuts,” Gilewicz said. “All the money goes right to the tutoring and the tutors. I do not spend money on brochures or pencils with our information on them.”
Garrett Smothers, tutor and supervisor at the Writing Center, did not know about the Writing Center until he ended up there and decided to tutor for the last four semesters.
Infographic by Mike Uribes
“I think that people should take more advantage of the walk-in option of the center,” Smothers said. “There are a lot of times where we are there waiting in the center with nobody’s name on the walk-in list.”
Smothers agrees with Gilewicz about the location being bad for the center but also believes that people know the center for its reputation about not being copy editors.
“The center has a reputation for not copy editing which has changed, but we want to do more than that here because that is not the purpose of the center,” Smothers said. “I understand it is hard to ask for help, but that is what we are here for.”
Sociology major Roman Reyes has used the center and recommends students take advantage of the free service.
“I have taken papers into the walk-in tutorials before and they helped me a lot,” Reyes said. “They pointed out the things in my paper that needed changing or clarifying and that made a better paper.”
Gilewicz offered a guarantee to students who bring in their assignment.
“Bring in your assignment as soon as you get it and with our tutors’ help, you will generate two to three pages of writing before you leave,” she said.