The Writing Center is open 8am-7pm Monday through Thursday, and 8am to 1pm on Fridays. The telephone number is 867-2303. Appointments are helpful, but not always necessary.

The Writing Center is available for all TSTC students, regardless of their technology, who wish to improve their writing skills. Because writing is a form of communication, good writing skills are essential, no matter what occupation one pursues. We provide tutoring for English classes as well as writing across the curriculum.

The Writing Center, a free service provided by the English department, provides one-on-one tutoring sessions for any student, whether the student is writing a paper, or just needs someone to look over a resume. The Center has 11 new Dell computers, 4 for general student use, and the remaining for tutoring sessions. These computers come equipped with the Microsoft 2000 and XP Office suites, including Word, Access, PowerPoint, and Excel. Microsoft Publisher and Internet access are also available on all machines. We not only provide computerized help, but also a scanner, TV and VCR, and a Reference Library that covers an array of subject matter.

Faculty can attach the Referral forms to an email and send the form directly to the Writing Center. [wawritingcenter@tstc.edu]

All instructors can refer their students to the Writing Center using the Writing Center Referral form. This form contains two sections, one that is filled-out by the instructor and the other that is fill-out by the tutor. The instructor inserts the student’s name, instructor, course, date, and directions for the student. The tutor fills-out the appointment time, tutor name, comments about the tutoring session, and which resources were used with the student. After the instructor fills-out the form for a student, he or she should give the green Writing Center Referral form to the student. Regardless of the method of contact, it is imperative that the student brings the Writing Center Referral form to his tutorial session. After the tutorial is over, the tutor completes the referral form and sends a copy to the student’s instructor.

If a student comes to the Writing Center and does not have his or her Writing Center Referral form, the tutor will fill-out a referral form indicating what was discussed in the tutorial. A copy will be sent to the instructor.

• Guide to Grammar and Writing at Capital Community College [ccc.commnet.edu/grammar] Permission to link to site materials granted August 6, 2003 by Charles Darling, Professor of English, Webmaster, Capital Community College

• Big Dog Grammar
  [www.aliscot.com/bigdog] Permission to link to site materials granted August 7, 2003 by Scott Foll.

• OWL Writing Lab at Purdue University
  [owl.english.purdue.edu] Permission to link to site materials granted August 6, 2003 by Erin Karper, OWL Webmaster, Department of English, Purdue University

• The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/]

• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
  [www.grammarbook.com/hd.htm] Permission to link to site materials granted August 6, 2003 by Jane Straus.

• The University at Albany Writing Center [www.albany.edu/writing/]

• Trinity College Writing Center Online [www.trincoll.edu/depts/writcent/] Permission to link to site materials granted August 7, 2003 by Beverly C. Wall, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Director, Allan K. Smith Center for Writing & Rhetoric, Trinity College

• Utah Valley State College On-line Writing Lab [www.uvsc.edu/owl] Permission to link to site materials granted October 3, 2003 by Lisa Eastmond, UVSC Writing Center Coordinator

• A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation [http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml]

• A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended by The American Psychological Association [http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm]

This cubicle also contains a TV and VCR that can be used to watch a video that a student might have missed in class. We supply headphones so as not to disturb other students.

What are students saying about the Writing Center? Students gave the following responses on questionnaires:

• “quiet, clean, neat”
• “friendly atmosphere”
• “abundance of information”
• “Amie was very helpful and explained things very well.”
• “It showed me a lot I never understood in my writing.”
• “received educated help with [my] writing weaknesses”
• “I liked working on the computers and it’s quiet.”
• “The people really try to help as much as they can.”
• “The tutor explained the information very well.”
• “up-to-date equipment; introduction to new websites; very understandable; very helpful”
• “A lot of different information [was] available that helped me understand punctuation better.”
• “It was very helpful. The lady that helped me was very nice and explained everything to my understanding.”
• “The person that helped me was real nice. Also, she took her time and didn't rush through the training exercises.”