Faculty FAQs

Consultants in the CTLE Writing Center include undergraduate students from diverse majors as well as adjunct faculty from the English Department.

Students who wants to improve their writing skills. We can work with students during any phase of the writing process, whether it be brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, documenting sources, and so on.

We would prefer you do not. We are glad to help any students who come in on their own or are referred. However, some students simply do not wish to take advantage of this resource, and are therefore not receptive to our help.

Students should bring any and all information they have regarding their assignment, question, or concern (assignment sheets, notes, drafts, outlines, sources, etc.). They need not have a completed paper, however, because we welcome the opportunity to brainstorm with them.

During a session, a consultant will ask the student to read the paper aloud. Reading aloud is important because often the writer discovers many of the errors usually missed when reading the paper silently. The consultant may stop the student periodically to comment or discuss some aspect of the paper. If the student does not have a paper started, the consultant will brainstorm with him or her to refine a question or generate ideas. Sessions generally last about 30 minutes, but will last no longer than 50 minutes.

The simple answer is yes, but no. If you have formally referred (in writing) a student, the consultant will send you a memo detailing the session. However, when students voluntarily visit the Writing Center, they will register online during their initial visit and answer some questions. Two of these questions read:

Do you grant permission to the CTLE staff to contact your professor to discuss your progress?

Do you agree to allow your professor access to general information regarding your progress?

Obviously, if the student answers “No,” to both or either, we cannot give you any information regarding the students’ visits to the Writing Center.

You may request a consultant, and if that consultant is available, we will be glad to accommodate you.

Yes. Although we may not have a consultant who shares a particular student’s major, we are all versed in different aspects of writing across the disciplines. Also, we have a wealth of information available to us in the Writing Center to help us in these situations.

Yes. We do help quite a lot of ESL students, and are always changing our approaches to meet these situations, as each case is different.

We encourage all students, whether they consider themselves excellent writers or not, to visit the Writing Center. Feedback is always helpful when writing. In fact, our own CTLE Writing Center consultants often consult with each other on their papers.

The best way to encourage your students to utilize the many valuable resources available to them at the CTLE Writing Center is to mention the Writing Center as you assign papers. You can also attach the “Addendum to Syllabus” located at (http://academic.scranton.edu/department/ctle/writing/SyllabusBlurb.shtml) to your own syllabus or distribute it to your class as a separate handout. This document should help clarify the services offered by the Writing Center.

Unfortunately, many students visit the Writing Center only in the last stages of the writing process, which does not allow them to take full advantage of the Writing Center. You can encourage your students to visit the Writing Center early so our consultants can help them formulate their thoughts and analyze the rhetorical situation and brainstorm ideas. Many students just do not realize that in addition to helping them revise and edit their papers, the Writing Center can help students who have problems formulating questions or developing their essays—we’re here for all stages of the writing process. We can help them think through organizational strategies,work on introductions and conclusions, etc. Tell them that even if they think a paper is “fine,” feedback is always helpful, and someone else’s perspective may help the writer refine, refocus, or revise various aspects of the paper. You might also explain that professionals usually look to their colleagues for feedback early in the writing process and often during it. After all, successful writers value peer review and discussion, as these aspects of writing are essential to a solid paper.

Another way to encourage your students is to avoid using language that refers to the center as a place where they can have their papers proofread for them. Instead, suggest that the writing center is a place where serious writers meet to discuss their ideas and to work with consultants who can give them constructive feedback. Above all we are not a “fix-it-shop.” We do not allow a student to simply drop off a paper and then pick it up later. We are here to help all students improve their writing through interaction with and feedback from the writing consultants.

Finally, although we certainly appreciate you encouraging your students to visit us often and regularly, we also ask that you do not require your students to come to the CTLE Writing Center unless absolutely necessary. Students who genuinely want to improve their writing are usually more open to revising or even revamping their work.