Get Oriented
An orientation is a great way to introduce your class to the Writing Center and what we have to offer. Our staff will visit your class—or you can visit the center—and provide information about our services. We can also tailor the presentation to your specific class needs.
Please schedule your orientation at least one week in advance.
We’ll Come to You
Is there a writing-related topic you’d like to have presented to your class or group? Our staff will come to your class or event to lead a discussion on a variety of topics, from basic outlining skills to writing scholarship essays. We can tailor the presentation to your specific needs and time allotted.
Take advantage of the following presentations:
- APA citation style
- Basic outlining
- Formatting a college paper
- MLA citation style
- Plagiarism
- Prewriting
- Study tips
- Thesis statements
- Writing scholarship essays
- Writing a college paper
- Writing timed essays
If there is a topic you do not see on this list but would be interested in having presented to your class or group, please contact us and we can develop a presentation for you.
We respectfully request scheduling workshops in advance to ensure that we are able to provide you with the best service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Writing Center?
In general, a writing center is a beyond-the-classroom space where students can explore confusing or challenging educational issues through dialogic relationships, providing individualized, engaged responses to compositions (written, oral, and visual) for writers across the university in all disciplines and at all levels and stages of the composition process. This can be brainstorming ideas, discussing assignment requirements, or reviewing style and correctness. Just as the consulting relationship serves the student choosing to take part in it, consultants, too, learn to communicate better and improve their understanding of writing.
Who uses the Writing Center?
We work with all Purdue University Fort Wayne students, Indiana University Fort Wayne students, and students enrolled in the English Language School (ELS) on the Fort Wayne campus, in all majors, freshmen to seniors, undergraduates and graduates, native and non-native English speakers. We consult on many types of assignments, including lab reports, speeches, presentations, and senior projects. We can also help construct personal statements for scholarship or graduate school applications.
Does the Writing Center offer editing and proofreading services?
The Writing Center is not a proofreading or editing service, although we are happy to help writers with these skills. Our consultants work collaboratively with students and, after reading through the assignment and paper together, discuss the student’s concerns—which may include sentence-level errors like grammar errors, punctuation errors, and typos. Our goal is to support each student’s long-term development as a writer, giving new skills to use in future writing projects.
How can I introduce the Writing Center to my students?
The Writing Center offers orientations as a means to introduce our services to students. Typically, orientations are done in the center—though we can also come to your classroom—and last approximately 15–30 minutes. We give an overview of our services, walk your students through what happens during a visit, and answer questions about what we do and how we do it. We can also provide information on a variety of related topics, such as citation styles and plagiarism.
The Writing Center can also deliver workshops for your class or organization. We have presented in classes for a variety of degree programs about rhetorical choices in PowerPoint, how to write scholarship essays, basic outlining techniques, formatting college papers, citation styles, plagiarism, and more.
How do I request a Writing Center Orientation or Workshop?
To request additional Writing Center services, contact us at 260-481-5483 or writingcenter@pfw.edu with the particulars of your request (topics to be covered, size of the group, location, date, etc.). We will respond as soon as possible to discuss the event and confirm our participation.
Can I require a Writing Center consultation for an assignment?
There are many professors who require consultations on assignments as student drafts. If you choose to require your students to use the Writing Center, we request that you contact us 260-481-5483 or writingcenter@pfw.edu to let us know about the expected influx of students and to provide a copy of your assignment so that we can be prepared to assist your students. Also, please remember that many students use the center, especially as midterms and finals approach, so appointments can become scarce. Please ask your students to make their appointments early, as they may not be able to meet with a consultant before the assignment due date if they wait too long.
How frequently can students have appointments?
The Writing Center allows students to schedule one appointment per day per class, and up to three appointments per week per class.
What proof is available to verify my students came to the center for help?
The burden of proving attendance at a Writing Center consultation is placed upon the student; the Writing Center does not provide lists of student visitors to instructors. What we provide as proof is the consultation summary that is automatically emailed to the student’s school email account at the end of their appointment. The consultation summary lists the class name, the appointment date, and the appointment duration, as well as a summation of what was discussed in the appointment (online consultations are summarized in a PDF attachment). The student is responsible for giving the documents to their professor.
Should there be issue with the network or our TutorTrac system have a glitch at the time of the student’s appointment, students are also able to print out a visit history that documents their attendance for all tutoring-related activities. The student must log in to TutorTrac, click the Visit History button in the top left corner of their screen, and print the window that opens.
Can staff and faculty members use the Writing Center for their own writing?
Unfortunately, no. As our staff consists of mostly undergraduate students, the university has decided that consulting on work for staff and faculty members is inappropriate.