The CSU Global Writing Center is here to help students become better writers. While students might work with consultants on a specific piece of writing, our goal is to teach students the skills that will help them strengthen their writing abilities and become more confident and capable writers. In either a live synchronous session or an asynchronous Dropbox session at the Writing Center, Writing Consultants can assist students at any stage of the writing process.
What follows is general information for faculty who would like to encourage their students to visit the Writing Center. This guide is meant to help you and your students get the most benefit out of Writing Center services.
Writing Consultants can assist students at any stage of the writing process. Here are some of the things we can help your students with:
Generating, organizing, and developing ideas
Argument, analysis, and synthesis
Summary, paraphrase, and citation
Understanding error patterns
Research strategies and source usage
Establishing effective proofreading skills
Consultants help students become better writers by teaching strategies to draft, revise, edit, proofread, and cite. With that in mind, we cannot “fix” errors, copy edit a draft, define the focus of an essay, or tell the student what to write. Typically, Writing Consultants focus on global concerns first: addressing the assignment, organization, argument, etc. We do, however, also assist with sentence-level issues: grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and proofreading strategies.
Live consultations are designed for students who want to talk to a Writing Consultant in real time about their writing. Sessions are 50 minutes long and can be conducted through audio/video or text chat. During live consultations, students and consultants have access to a shared whiteboard, where the student can upload a draft so that both the student and consultant can comment on or make revisions to the document.
CSU Global students may reserve up to two (2) live appointments per week.
Students can only reserve one-hour appointment blocks. Please note that all sessions start on the hour and are 50 minutes long, regardless of when a student logs in to the session.
Students are able to schedule appointments as soon as the next day. For example, up until 11:59 (MT) on Monday, you can schedule an appointment for any available time on Tuesday. Appointments can be scheduled up to 10 days in advance.
If a student fails to show up for an appointment, it will be marked a no-show.
If a student needs to reschedule an appointment, the student must cancel or modify the appointment up to 3 hours before the start time of your appointment by logging in to WCOnline. If you do not cancel the appointment and do not attend the session, it will be considered a no-show.
If a student is more than 5 minutes late for an appointment, the student will be considered a no-show.
After three (3) no-shows, the student’s account will be disabled and the student must email the Academic Resources Manager in order to reinstate it.
Writing Consultants who are teaching courses cannot work with students who are presently enrolled in their courses.
Writing Consultants cannot work with students to complete PLA or CBE requirements.
Mobile Device Policy:
Students must use a computer when attending writing consultations. If a student is using a mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone, the writing consultant will end the session and ask the student to reschedule their consultation.
Please bring your assignment to your consultation or upload it prior to your appointment.
Come to your appointment with specific concerns about your drafts or your writing in general: are you worried about larger concerns like idea development, essay planning, and organization? Or are you worried about other concerns like grammar and APA style?
Bring a draft of the paper, thesis statement, outline, or anything else you’d like to work on in the session.
Log into the online consultation 5-10 minutes prior to the appointment start time to test the audio/video and troubleshoot any connection issues.
If an accommodation is needed, please let the Writing Center know as soon as possible at writing.center@csuglobal.edu
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding your writing consultation, please complete the survey you receive via email after your appointment is complete. You can also contact the Academic Resources Manager at writing.center@csuglobal.edu.
Dropbox consultations are designed for students who don’t have time to attend a live consultation with a Writing Consultant but would still like feedback on their documents. To use this service, students must schedule an appointment and upload their assignment prompt and draft by the start time of the appointment. Students will receive focused feedback on two (2) issues in their document within 24-36 hours from the start time of the appointment. Writing Consultants assist writers of all levels and in all disciplines on any type of written work.
Here are some things the Writing Center can help you with:
Organizing and developing Ideas
Argument, analysis, and synthesis
Summary, paraphrase, and citation
Understanding error patterns
Source usage and paraphrasing
Establishing effective proofreading skills
APA formatting OR in-text citations OR references
Students are limited to two (2) Dropbox appointments per week.
Students can schedule same-day Dropbox appointments, but appointments must be scheduled at least three hours in advance.
Consultants will review up to 20 pages (5000 words) of one document.
Students are permitted to cancel their appointments up until the start time of the appointment.
Students cannot have overlapping appointments for the same document/assignment.
Students can only re-submit the same document to the Dropbox for additional feedback if substantial revisions have been made.
If a student fails to upload a document prior to the start time of the appointment, it will be marked a no-show.
After three (3) no-shows, the student’s account will be disabled and the student must email the Writing Center Coordinator in order to reinstate it.
Writing Consultants who are teaching courses cannot work with students who are presently enrolled in their courses.
Writing Consultants cannot work with students to complete PLA or CBE requirements.
Please make sure to upload assignment information and guidelines to the appointment so that Writing Consultants can identify and prioritize the most important issues in a student’s document while making sure that the student is meeting all the assignment requirements.
In the appointment form, request feedback on specific areas of concern in the paper. Writing Consultants will provide feedback on the TWO (2) most significant issues in a document, which may or may not include what a student has identified in the appointment form. Comments will likely focus on a combination of higher-order and lower-order concerns, at the consultant's discretion:
Higher-Order Concerns: thesis, argument, analysis, organization, etc.
Lower-Order Concerns: grammar, syntax, APA formatting OR in-text citations OR references, etc.
Please note that this is not a copy editing service. For more focused help on sentence-level issues, students are encouraged to make an appointment for the Live Writing Consultants or utilize the Online Tutoring writing review services.
Consultants help students become better writers by teaching strategies to draft, revise, edit, proofread, and cite. With that in mind, we cannot “fix” errors, copy edit a draft, define the focus of an essay, or tell the student what to write.
If an accommodation is needed, please let the Writing Center know as soon as possible at writing.center@csuglobal.edu.
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding your writing center consultation, please complete the survey you receive via email after your appointment is complete. You can also contact the Academic Resources Manager at writing.center@csuglobal.edu
After logging into the scheduler, use the dropdown menu to select the appropriate schedule. To meet with a consultant one on one, select the Live Writing Consultations option. To have a consultant to review your document and provide written feedback, select the Dropbox option.
After you’ve selected the appropriate dropdown menu, make sure that you are viewing the correct week and day/date. You can navigate to other days/weeks by using either the overhead calendars or the Next Week/Previous Week buttons.
If you prefer a specific consultant, find the consultant’s name on the left-hand side and click a white box that corresponds with both the consultant and your desired appointment time. If you have no consultant preference, simply click a white box under your desired appointment time.
If an accommodation is needed, please let the Writing Center know as soon as possible at writing.center@csuglobal.edu.
Provide specific suggestions on what students should visit the Writing Center for.
Doesn’t have to be a single issue, but specific examples are helpful
e.g. revise a thesis statement, review paragraph structure, learn how to analyze evidence, etc.
Encourage students to bring instructor feedback on drafts and previous assignments.
Remind students to review the guidelines and recommendations on our website before making an appointment so they know what to expect.
Point students to our tutorials and online resources if they don’t have time to make appointments: https://csuglobal.libguides.com/writingcenter/writing_tutorials
