The Daily Bulletin Archive

The College Writing Program created the Writing Help Center last spring as part of E. H. Butler Library’s Information Commons. The service continues this fall with expanded hours and more professional tutoring, and it has become a permanent part of the Information Commons.

A part-time writing faculty member is available to offer writing help to students on a first-come, first-served basis from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. No appointments are necessary.

Instructors can help with story ideas, grammatical edits, wording options, and clarity for overall direction of compositions. Susan Leist, director of the College Writing Program, says the service is designed to be highly visible to students and may be particularly helpful to students who speak English as their second language. She says that both students and professors have responded positively to the service.

Established to complement existing tutoring programs, the Writing Tutoring Help Desk is intended to offer immediate assistance to students, helping them to eventually become desirable and marketable graduates who are effective and competent communicators.

“Many business professionals tell me they wish today’s graduates wrote clearer e-mails, memos, and proposals,” said Leist. “It’s so important to have good writing skills. Writing is the major vehicle by which any person communicates thoughts, feelings, and information that last and exist even when the person is no longer there. The Writing Tutoring Help Desk is there to support the actualization of effective writing skills among our students.”