Faculty FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

What exactly does the Writing Center do?

The Writing Center is a unique, although sometimes misunderstood teaching resource at CU.  Our primary goal is to teach members of the CU community how to be more skillful, self-aware, resourceful and confident about their writing in every possible rhetorical context. We don’t copy-edit papers or proctor grammar quizzes.  Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the teaching we do is that students opt to come to us.  There are no grades here.  No one is required to attend for credit.  We don’t guarantee anyone an “A” because they met with us for an hour.   What we provide is individualized attention and advice for learning strategies to write clearly, purposefully, correctly, and memorably.  Our staff of writing consultants, trained in collegiate composition and rhetoric pedagogy, meets one-on-one with clients to provide customized lessons applicable to each client’s writing situation.  Clients must register with our website and book appointments to meet with us—free of charge to all current CU students, faculty and staff.  Same-day appointments are occasionally possible, but we recommend booking at least five days in advance. 

Should I require that my students come to the Writing Center?

No. While we always encourage faculty to recommend the Writing Center as a helpful resource for students, we must ask that you refrain from requiring visits.  We’ve found that when students are required to visit the Writing Center, they are often resistant to engaging in productive conversations about their writing and far less likely to retain strategies that will last beyond the consultation.  Also, required visits strain limited Center resources and prevent other writers on campus from being able to use our services. 

Will you let me know whether my students are visiting the Writing Center?

We don’t provide proof of visits because it conflicts with our philosophy of student agency and our ability to remain a neutral, non-evaluative space for teaching.  Similarly, we will not participate in grade disputes.  If you’d like proof that your students are coming in, ask that they write you brief reflective cover letters describing what they learned from us and how they applied this to their revised paper.  They can also print out a copy of their appointment confirmation email as further proof of a visit.  The coordinator, Eric Klinger, and the director, Steve Lamos, are glad to talk with faculty about pedagogical issues.  Please arrange a time to meet with one of us by calling (303) 735-6906.

How do I persuade my students to visit the Writing Center?

One way to encourage your students to visit the Writing Center is requesting that a consultant visit your class to provide a brief overview of our services.  Class visits generally last about 10-15 minutes and can be arranged by sending an email to wrtghelp@colorado.edu.  Be sure to include the following information in your visit request:

 

• Preferred and alternate date for presentation
• Building location (please include directions for hard-to-find classrooms)
• Number of students
• Course and section number
• Time that you'd like the visit to occur (usually the first or last 15 minutes of class)
• Specific information requests for the presenter (e.g. APA / MLA style sheet)
  
  For additional information, please contact us at (303) 735-6906 and leave a message.

 

I’d really like the Writing Center to create a writing workshop for my class—is that possible?

We provide workshops tailored to writing in specific disciplines and genres as part of our campus outreach. If you are interested in a workshop that addresses writing concerns specific to your class, contact us at wrtghelp@colorado.edu.  Please note that such workshops are time-consuming to create, so allow plenty of time for us to meet with you and design a lesson plan.

Can the Writing Center help my students avoid plagiarism?

One of our most popular requests from students is how to properly cite and format sources in academic papers.  Our consultants teach students how to smoothly incorporate and cite source materials in their writing using proper signal phrases, paraphrases, and quotations according to a style manual (MLA, APA, CMS, etc.).

What is your policy about take-home exams?

In observance of CU’s Honor Code, we require that students ask for your written permission before seeking our writing advice for any assignment that counts as an exam grade. Students should arrange permission before their scheduled appointment by requesting that you send a brief message to wrtghelp@colorado.edu 

If you wish, we can add your name to our list of professors who permit their students to seek writing advice on take-home exams.

As with any paper we see in the Writing Center, we focus solely on writing issues such as thesis, organization, style, grammar, citation, and rhetorical appeals when advising students about take-home exams.  We do not provide content-specific advice (e.g. we will not “correct” conceptual matters such as whether they've provided a valid analysis of the Treaty of Versailles); instead, we will help them to communicate, clarify and organize *their own* concepts and analyses.