Policies

Who

Writing Center assistants are full time professional tutors and peer tutors. They go through training to polish their skills in helping you achieve your writing goals.

What We Do

Tutors work with students and faculty at any stage of the writing process on any writing assignment or project at DCTC (not only English classes!). In your meeting with a tutor, the tutor will ask you questions and make suggestions that will provide you with more control over your own writing.

Meeting with a Tutor

Tutors will ask to see assignment sheets, syllabi or other materials related to the assignment.

Tutors may ask you to read a portion of your paper aloud since this is one of the best ways to tune in to your use of language.

You and the tutor will discuss any writing concerns you may have, and if time allows, may move on to other issues the tutor feels need attention.

Tutors are trained to assess various writing situations and provide advice to writers. For long projects, tutors may choose to extend a meeting if no other student is scheduled or waiting. However, it is more effective for you to take what you have learned in your initial session and work on your project for a while before you come back for a later meeting to discuss what you have accomplished yourself.

What We Do Not Do

Replace instructors-Your own instructors are invaluable sources of guidance on writing assignments. Use the Writing Center along with-not in place of-faculty assistance to feel that your work is on track.

"Fix" and proofread papers for you-instead we help you improve your own papers. Tutors will discuss with you grammatical rules, so that you can learn to proofread yourself.

Predict or guarantee grades-We are not conducting or attending the class you are writing for, so we cannot make statements about grades.

Know everything-If a tutor does not know the answer to a particular question or how to help with an assignment, he or she will refer you to a staff member who does or research to find the answer.