University Writing Center

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu
PHONE: 703-993-1200
EMAIL: wcenter@gmu.edu
LOCATIONS
Robinson A114 (Main Center), Enterprise 040 (SOM)
Occoquan 204 (Prince William Campus), ARL212 (Arlington Campus)

Introduction
The George Mason University Writing Center (UWC) is a writing resource open to the entire university community, offering free tutoring in a comfortable, supportive atmosphere. In addition, tutoring is available at the Prince William and Arlington Campuses, and in Enterprise Hall on the Main Campus. Have students consult the UWC Home Page for tutoring schedules. NOTE: School of Management students have priority in scheduling at the Enterprise Hall location; others students can sign up for same-day appointments if available.

During face-to-face and online sessions, trained graduate and undergraduate tutors from a variety of disciplines assist writers at all stages of the writing process. Tutors emphasize positive attitudes and strategies that help writers at any level learn to evaluate and revise in order to do more confident and effective work. If students are working in groups on a collaborative paper, they can arrange a group tutorial. This can be an excellent way to have a "writing expert" sit in as the group meets. Group tutorials can also be useful if students are working on separate papers for the same assignment.

The UWC is committed to collaborating with university faculty to improve student writing by encouraging students to view their writing as a long-term learning process. The UWC assists students and instructors of writing across the disciplines through an extensive web site, by providing specialized in-class workshops, and by maintaining the Writing Center reference library, a selection of style guides, writing handbooks, and single-topic handouts available to all members of the George Mason community.

Online Writing Lab (OWL)
The Online Writing Lab serves as an alternative for writers who may prefer to work in a virtual environment. OWL tutors will review writing, offer feedback, and provide guidance at any stage of the writing process. Before sending any work to the OWL, writers must read the OWL submission guidelines and register online at writingcenter.gmu.edu. After registering as an OWL user, writers submit their text to the OWL either by e-mail or through our web site. The OWL tutors usually provide feedback and advice within two school days.

ESL Services
Two ESL specialists are available to tutor non-native speakers of English, conduct workshops, and provide faculty development related to ESL writing issues. All tutors, however, routinely tutor ESL students.

Referring a Student to the Writing Center for Tutoring
If you have students you think would benefit from sessions in the Writing Center, you can refer them by 1) sending an e-mail to wcenter@gmu.edu, 2) writing a note for the student to bring to the Writing Center, 3) sending a note through campus mail to Writing Center, 2G8. In all cases, you should give the student's name, your name, the course, and specify the kind of writing assistance the student requires. You should also let us know how (e-mail, phone, campus mail) the tutor should contact you to discuss the session. In all cases, it is the student’s responsibility to schedule the session.

Confidentiality and Finding Out About the Student's Session
If you have referred a student and want to find out what occurred in a session, you'll need to be sure to tell the student that you would like to talk to the tutor. We keep Client Record forms for everyone we see; on these forms, we have a place for students to indicate whether we may discuss the session with the instructor. If a student says that we may not discuss the session, then we do not even if the student has been referred. If the student says that we may discuss the session, the tutor will contact you as directed or you may contact the tutor. You may call the Writing Center to find out the confidentiality status.

Proof of Sessions
Instructors sometimes ask students to bring some kind of proof that they have come to a session at the Writing Center. If you want proof of attendance, tell the student to ask for a "Visit Verification" form which lists the date and time of the session and the tutor's name.

In-Class Writing Center “Road Show” Orientation
To let your students know first-hand about our services, you may request that a tutor visit your class to do a ten-minute presentation. Another option is to bring your class to see our facility and peruse our library of handbooks, writing guides, and free handouts. We also have an orientation to the UWC on the website at writingcenter.gmu.edu.

Onsite and Online Workshops
Each semester, we offer a series of workshops on writing from sources: “How to Evaluate, Document, and Cite Sources,” “How and When to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote,” and “Making Your Research Paper Flow.” We also offer specialized workshops for School of Management students, but open to all students, on managing the mechanics of a paper and writing a good memo. At an instructor’s request, we will also present in-class workshops on topics we have already developed: writing essay exams and proofreading and editing papers. In addition, we offer an array of online workshops available at http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/resources/onlineworkshops.html.

CAS390: Peer Tutoring in Writing in the Disciplines
Please consider recommending students for this one-credit experiential learning course (repeatable up to 3 credits) which includes five weeks of training and then puts students in the Writing Center as full-fledged tutors. To be eligible for CAS390, students must meet a specific set of requirements, including a GPA of 3.5 in their major and the completion of ENGL302 with an A (or equivalency credit). Once these requirements are met, they must submit a sample of their academic writing and two instructor recommendations to the Director of the Writing Center, who will also interview them to determine how they relate to writers and writing. Contact Terry Zawacki at 993-1187 or at tzawacki@gmu.edu for more details.

The WAC/Writing Center Connection
In order to provide the best possible support for student writers, the University Writing Center also provides resources and consultation services for faculty assigning writing in their courses. For that reason, one of our important roles is to serve as a locus for Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) activities, a place where faculty can come for advice and resources on creating effective writing assignments, giving useful criticism, and evaluating writing in a constructive way.

The WAC program began at George Mason in 1978 with workshops for interested faculty. Today, WAC is an integral part of university-wide teaching, and occurs in one or more forms in all colleges and departments. The most visible features of our WAC program are the Advanced Composition in the Disciplines (ENGL302) requirement and the writing-intensive (WI) requirement. Passed in 1993 by the Faculty Senate, the WI requirement states that every Mason undergraduate must take at least one WI course in his/her major at the 300-level or above.

What makes a Course Writing-Intensive?
WI sections are limited to 35 students who must submit at least 3500 words of graded writing divided among two or more assignments. WI instructors devote class time to instructing students in how to complete the writing assignments successfully, and, for at least one paper, give students detailed feedback on a draft, which students then resubmit for a grade. For more details, consult the WAC website at http://wac.gmu.edu

Assistance for Faculty on the Web Page
Check the UWC and WAC websites for links to a variety of resources on how to manage writing in your courses and to an array of on-line reference materials.

Writing Center/Writing Across the Curriculum Newsletter
Published once a semester, the newsletter features articles describing best practices in courses across the university; tips on teaching with writing; discussions of issues such as designing effective assignments; evaluating, assessing, and responding to student writing; and other timely topics. Copies of the newsletter can be found at the WAC website at http://wac.gmu.edu/program/program.html.