When students need information or help to move forward with an unmarked individual assignment, these 30-minute appointments give them the opportunity to ask questions and receive information from the Writing Centre. The conversation involves a maximum of 25 minutes available to assist students by providing information and answering questions. The last five minutes are set aside for us to send the student an email with the resources discussed during the conversation.
The conversation can focus on one or two key questions or challenges, such as:
- Getting started (e.g., brainstorming strategies, developing a thesis statement, writer's block)
- Structure (e.g., essay structure, developing a plan or outline, paragraphs)
- Arguments (e.g., developing claims, using evidence, demonstrating critical thinking)
- Improving sentences (e.g., English grammar, word choice, sentence structure, wordiness, self-editing strategies)
- APA Style (e.g., formatting, citations, referencing)
- Questions about writing skills identified in an instructor's feedback in a previously-marked individual essay.
- If students do not require additional feedback but they'd like to discuss the skills noted by instructors so they have new information with which to improve those areas in future works, we can help!
- We do not review works in advance of 30-minute appointments, so we encourage students to come prepared with the questions they'd like to discuss.
Students will always maintain the authorship of their texts, which means we won’t review the document before the appointment in order to provide feedback or suggestions on the text, nor will we proofread, edit, or otherwise make changes to your document during the appointment. Instead, we’ll provide information and examples during the conversation that will assist students to make their own decisions about their writing. At all times, students are responsible for the content in their documents and for their own successes.
If students are seeking information or feedback on course content or if their approach to an assignment is correct, we encourage them to contact their instructor(s). We won’t predict grading for a work, nor will we assist students regarding:
- Take-home exams
- Scholarship or grant applications (please contact Financial Aid & Awards for assistance)
- Cover letters, resumes, or employment application essays (please contact Career Development for assistance)
- Legal documents
- Documents in languages other than English
- Applications to academic programs
Bookings and cancellations
- Scheduled appointments are limited to one appointment per day and two appointments per week; appointments may occur face-to-face/online/by phone.
- Students may only book appointments for themselves.
- Appointments will be cancelled if students are more than 10 minutes late.
- Students are encouraged to cancel appointments as soon as possible, and ideally 24 hours before their appointment, to allow other students to book appointments.
- Repeated failures to cancel appointments and/or repeated failures to appear for scheduled appointments may result in a students being restricted to drop-in meetings.
Students can schedule these meetings by visiting Book an Appointment. If you have any questions about this type of appointment, please contact the Writing Centre so we can assist you.
