Drop-in Tutoring | Scheduled Tutoring | Online Tutoring

Welcome to the UAA Writing Center! For many students, tutoring is an important component to ensure they have received a well-rounded, liberal education. The Writing Center serves students of all levels - from developmental all the way to doctoral candidates. The Center is designed to be a welcoming space where students can discuss openly the strengths and weaknesses of their writing process. We believe the key to effective writing is revision; thus, our focus is to help students become better writers, not necessarily or immediately to produce better texts.

Tutors support classroom instruction; they do not replace it. In most instances, tutors and students are unable to address all of the weaknesses in a paper inside of one tutoring session. We strongly encourage students to take ownership of their writing process. Ultimately, the paper is the student's work and should reflect his or her thoughts, revisions, edits and so forth.

Drop-In Tutoring

Drop-in sessions are limited to 30 minutes. If the WC is not too busy, you may ask for additional assistance from tutors.

• Students should come to the Writing Center with a clear understanding of the Rhetorical Situation (the Purpose and Audience) surrounding the writing project at hand. It is strongly encouraged for you to bring a copy of your assignment sheet (if relevant) to the session.
• At the beginning of your session, your tutor will want to negotiate an agenda for the session. The tutor will likely need to know what stage your writing is at and what specific issues you wish to focus on during the session. Don't simply come to the Writing Center to hand in a paper for review. Come with specific questions and concerns regarding your writing. Unanticipated issues can certainly be addressed, but it's best to start with a clear direction of concern.
• Don't wait until just before an assignment is due to bring it in to the Writing Center! Only so much can be covered in any given session.

 

Scheduled Tutoring

The Writing Center / CAWL now offers appointment-generated tutoring for 30 and 60 minutes sessions.

• Students may make appointments no more than one week in advance.
• To sign up, a Student must come to the WC and sign the Scheduled Tutoring Book or they may call the WC and have a Tutor sign them up for a specific time in the Scheduled Tutoring Book (786-6918).
• The Student must decide if he or she wants a 30 or 60 minute session.
• The Student may inquire to find out when a specific Tutor is available for Scheduled Tutoring and request that time.
• If a Student is more than 10 minutes late for the appointment, he or she forfeits that scheduled tutoring time (and the scheduled Tutor should move into rotation for Drop-In Tutoring.
• If a Student misses two scheduled tutoring times in a given semester, he or she is not allowed to sign up for any more scheduled tutoring for that semester.

Online Tutoring

The Writing Center at UAA offers online writing assistance. Just email your work to the Writing Center at ayrwc@uaa.alaska.edu. Our tutors will offer helpful suggestions in the categories you have indicated in your email.

Here's how:

Email us at ayrwc@uaa.alaska.edu with your paper attached as an MS Word document or in rich text format (".rtf").

Please include the following information in your email:

• Your name
• Your instructor's name
• Paper due date
• A brief description of your assignment including length limits and citation requirements - or you can simply copy your teacher's directions
• Three areas for us to address (pick from the following list*):
  • Thesis (main idea)
  • Focus (staying on topic)
  • Organization of paragraphs
  • Organization within paragraphs
  • Introduction
  • Transitions
  • Conclusion
  • Citations
  • References / Works Cited Page
  • Grammar

* Because our time is limited we cannot check an entire paper for errors. We will sometimes check the first page or two and make comments for you to review.

Here's how we will respond:

Turn around time is 24-48 hours during the work week. Papers received Saturday or Sunday won't be looked at until Monday.

The Writing Center is not a proofreading service - we focus on helping you become a better writer; we will offer overview commentary about your work and embed brief suggestions throughout your paper.