Description of Class Visits

When you request that a tutor visit your class to discuss the Writing Center's services, a tutor will contact you and set up a convenient time to visit.

During the visit, the tutor will speak to your class for 10-15 minutes and hand out informative fliers or bookmarks. The discussion will include the following points:

1. The main location of the Writing Center is 219 Boucke. The hours are Sunday 7 PM - 9:30 PM and Monday through Thursday 1:30 PM - 9:30 PM. The Writing Center also has appointment hours from Monday through Thursday at 9 AM - 11 AM. Appointments with an ESL specialist can be made most semesters by calling 863-3240. In addition, a satellite location is in 206A Johnston Commons. Here the hours are Monday through Thursday 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM and Sunday through Thursday 8 PM - 10 PM.

2. When students visit the Writing Center, they will see a receptionist, who will sign them in and give them two papers that they will need to fill out. These two papers are an evaluation sheet and a contact report. The contact report may be completed and sent to you if your student wants it to be.

The student might have to wait for a tutor if the Writing Center is busy. A tutor will soon come and get the student, and the tutoring session will begin with a brief discussion of the assignment's requirements.

Next, either the tutor or student will read the paper aloud so errors can be heard easily. If the paper is long, only a portion will be read aloud. The tutor will sometimes stop the reading after each paragraph and begin to discuss global and local concerns, specifically the concerns that were written on the evaluation sheet before the session began. It is best, however, to read the entire paper (or portion) aloud before beginning discussion. Only after reading the whole can the tutor and writer identify global concerns and decide which issues are highest-order concerns.

Usually, a tutorial for a paper lasts 30 minutes, but, if the Writing Center is not busy, a session may last longer if the tutor and writer wish to spend more time. After a half hour, tutors and writers tend to grow mentally fatigued and to work less efficiently. If the Writing Center is especially busy, group tutorials might be held.

3. The Writing Center offers FREE services. The tutorials are NEVER charged to students' accounts.

4. Peer tutors can help students with any type of writing during any stage of the writing process. The tutors are able to help students with technical writing, letters, speeches, scholarship essays, cover letters for jobs, etc. In other words, the tutoring services are not confined to just English assignments. Also, tutoring may occur at any stage of the writing process, including topic choice, planning, drafts, and revisions.

5. The process of becoming a peer tutor begins with the submission of an application and a letter of recommendation from an English instructor. Interested students are interviewed and, if accepted, are trained in a three-credit, semester-long course called English 250. Prerequisites for English 250 are English 15 or 30 (English 202 is preferred but not required). In English 250, tutors-in-training learn about the different types of writing that are commonly assigned at Penn State, as well as techniques for tutoring. They also learn about the Writing Center's policies, write papers on tutoring issues, and observe current tutors at work so they can better learn how to conduct a tutoring session. Finally, tutors-in-training complete a practicum of unpaid, supervised work before they may officially join the Writing Center staff.

Not all tutors are English majors. Many of the current tutors are pursuing degrees in areas such as Microbiology, Finance, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Secondary Education, Communication Arts and Sciences, Public Relations, Animal Bioscience, Spanish, French, Philosophy, Psychology, IST, Business Logistics, Journalism, Nutrition, Political Science, Latin American Studies, International Politics, Sociology, Anthropology, and Biology. Although the Writing Center believes that quality writing transcends differences across various fields of study, the directors also believe in the importance of having some tutors who are more proficient in certain fields' vocabulary and types of papers. Furthermore, talented writers and educators are not always English majors; likewise, English majors are not always the best writers and educators.

6. The Writing Center tutors do not edit students' papers, nor do they write on them. The Writing Center believes in "making better writers, not just better papers." In order to fulfill this goal, the tutors do not do students' homework. Rather, they believe in aiding students' learning through an expert yet nonintimidating peer relationship. The tutor will not try to "cover" every concern in a paper; after all, the Writing Center is not a fix-it shop. After discussing a few high-order concerns for 30 min., we hope the writer will leave the Writing Center with new enthusiasm and fresh ideas, ready to improve the paper through revision, then maybe return to the Writing Center for another tutorial on different concerns. 

7. Students should not feel stupid or ashamed to use the Writing Center's services! The tutors help ALL types of writers, including undergraduates, honors students, graduate students, international students, and students with learning disabilities. Remind students that even professional writers are not perfect. Everyone needs second opinions.