Writing Support
The Writing Center is a free resource available to all 果冻传媒麻豆社 students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Writers can schedule up to 45 minutes of writing tutoring per day and three appointments per week. If you have special circumstances that require additional time, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Through face-to-face appointments, video chatting, and feedback by email, tutors assist with all types of writing at any stage of the writing process. Whether you have a full draft or are just getting started, working with a writing tutor helps demystify the writing process, combat procrastination, clarify ideas, and build confidence in your work.
For graduate students working on longer projects, such as proposals, theses, and dissertations, the Writing Center's graduate writing consultants offer 45 minutes consultations either in-person or through video chat.
On campus, writers work with tutors in 30- or 45-minute sessions. Sessions can focus on:
- Understanding an assignment sheet
- Developing ideas
- Planning an essay
- Revising work through the process of reading a draft together, or
- Addressing other writing concerns.
Writers should come to appointments with the assignment sheet or prompt if there is one, any notes or drafts toward the project, and a readiness to work with the tutor. Tutors strive to make sure writers’ questions are answered and leave with a plan for continuing their work. Writers are also invited to make follow-up appointments, either with the same tutor or someone new.
Video chat tutoring is much like the face-to-face tutoring session on campus. Tutors and writers meet online using audio-visual, instant messaging, and document sharing tools so that they can look at and discuss assignments, engage in brainstorming activities, read and talk about drafts, and more. When making and accessing a video chat tutoring appointment, it is important to know the following:
- Schedule video chat appointments only with tutors who have “Video chat” beneath their names.
- Upload the assignment sheets or prompts to the appointment form.
- When accessing the appointment, log in to the calendar, click the scheduled appointment slot, and then click “Start or Join Video Chat Consultation.”
- If possible, begin the log in process a few minutes before the scheduled appointment time. If you think you will be a few minutes late, please let your tutor know by emailing writingcenter@uidaho.edu.
Feedback by Email lets writers submit drafts for written feedback from the tutor. Writers do not need to be present during Feedback by Email sessions. Instead, the appointment designates the time the tutor will spend reading and responding to a draft, and the tutor emails their feedback at the end of the appointment session. This is a useful option when writers have a draft but cannot be present for a face-to-face or video chat tutoring session. When making Feedback by Email appointments, it is important to know the following:
- Schedule Feedback by Email appointments only with tutors who have “Feedback by Email” beneath their names.
- Submit no more than 8 double-spaced pages (or 2,000 words) per appointment.
- Schedule the appointment for 45 minutes.
- Upload your draft to the appointment form before the appointment begins. For help uploading your work, email writingcenter@uidaho.edu.
Graduate Writing Assistance
Graduate students are welcome to work with any of our peer tutors. Additionally, graduate students can receive assistance from the Writing Center's graduate writing consultants, whose office is located in ISUB 323. The graduate writing consultants work exclusively with graduate students to provide in-depth and ongoing feedback for larger projects such as proposals, theses, and dissertations. Conferences are available in-person and online, so students can access writing support whether they are on the Moscow campus or studying from a distance.
Students can make appointments with the graduate writing consultants and selecting the calendar for Graduate Writing Support. For questions, email writingcenter@uidaho.edu.
General Guidelines:
- Appointments must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.
- When scheduling your appointment, please use the appointment form to describe your writing interests and concerns.
- If you would like the consultants to read your writing in advance, please send them your work at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment time.
- For larger works such as dissertations or theses, please limit the focus of your appointment to one chapter or up to 20 double-spaced pages.
- Number of appointments: Graduate students are welcome to make one appointment per week or five appointments per month. Please email writingcenter@uidaho.edu to ask about potential availability. If we cannot offer additional appointment times, we will help you schedule sessions with another consultant.