Writing Center
Learning Support
Here to help you succeed.
The Writing Center is a student-centered resource designed to help you with writing and public-speaking assignments for classes and academic-related events. Our consultants can meet with you virtually or
in-person to assist with compositional questions and concerns such as developing and supporting your thesis, understanding the rhetorical situation, organizing ideas, citing sources, improving clarity, incorporating peer and instructor comments. Think of us like coaches, working with you and offering you tools to flourish.
For students
Ways to get help with the Writing Center.
Let us help you meet your compositional goals. Be sure to bring any assignment information with you to the appointment: the assignment sheet, due date, notes, research, and any drafts or outlines you may have. It is also helpful to prepare for your appointment by thinking through and jotting down any specific questions and concerns you have about the assignment.
Writing Assistance
Appointments in the Writing Center can help you write more easily and save you time. Think of time spent in the Writing Center as integral—not extra—time spent on your assignment. A small investment of time with us can save you hours of struggling by yourself.
Speech and Presentation Assistance
Improve your presentation skills with help from our speech-consultation experts. Practice and preparation can help you overcome—or at least minimize—anxious behaviors such as talking too fast and feeling nervous. It also helps build up your confidence. Consultants can provide tips and help you with your visual aids, outlines, and other necessary presentation components.
Note: Be sure to select the correct center when scheduling your appointment based on your needs (Writing Center or Speech and Presentation Service).
When you want the interaction of a face-to-face appointment but coming to campus is not an option, you can always schedule an online appointment.
Schedule through TutorTrac and choose Online Assistance as the reason. Within five minutes of your appointment start time, log in to TutorTrac and click the Enter Online Appointment button that appears in the TutorTrac main menu. Please note that the button appears only within five minutes of your appointment time. The button will launch Zoom on your computer and take you to your consultant’s virtual lobby. When it’s time for your appointment, your consultant will connect with you.
Pro Tips
- Use a laptop or desktop for your appointment so you can view and edit your draft while speaking with your consultant (relying only on a smartphone isn’t recommended).
- Be able to give your full attention to the appointment, just as you would for a face-to-face meeting.
- Make sure that your internet connection is strong and that your incoming and outgoing audio is fully functional.
- Make sure that you are in an environment with few to no distractions and take steps to avoid interruptions.
Policies
- You must have a device with a microphone and speakers and/or a headset with a microphone. Video and/or screen sharing is encouraged.
- Online appointments count the same as face-to-face appointments (up to three appointments per class per week and one appointment per class per day).
- Please do not overlap submissions to the eConsult service and face-to-face appointments for the same assignment.
If you’d like help but your schedule doesn’t match with our availability, the eConsult service is for you. Request help with your writing, speeches, or presentations through our online form. Within two to three business days of your submission—not including university breaks or closures—you will receive a response from [email protected] with your assignment (with our recommendations and comments on the draft) and a PDF summary of the consultation. This PDF can count as your proof of visit to provide to your professors, if they require Writing Center visits. If you need help with the delivery of a speech, you can upload a recording to YouTube (no need to publish it, just keep the link private) and include the link to the video with your request form.
If we need to contact you for more information, it may delay the return of your submission. It may also take longer to return your submission during our busy times (especially the weeks leading up to and during midterms and finals), so please plan ahead. Our business hours are shortened over the summer semesters, which will also delay the return of your requests.
Note: We put our comments on your document using the comments feature in Word. To read the comments, you'll need to open the document on a desktop or laptop computer and be sure that Show Comments is selected.
Request a Speech or Presentation eConsult
For Faculty
Let’s meet up.
We offer orientation appointments to introduce the Writing Center services to your students. We provide an overview of our services, walk your students through how to meet with us and what happens during a visit, and answer questions about what we do and how we do it.
Have something specific you want to focus on? The Writing Center can also deliver workshops for your class or organization to provide expert knowledge.
Orientation is a great way to introduce your class to the Writing Center and what we have to offer. Our staff will visit your class—or you can visit the center—and provide information about our services. We can also tailor the presentation to your specific class needs.
Please schedule your orientation at least one week in advance.
Is there a writing-related topic that would benefit your class or group? Our staff can come to your class or event to lead a discussion on a variety of topics—from basic outlining skills to writing scholarship essays. We can tailor the presentation to your specific needs and time allotted, but please plan to be present while we are there.
Take advantage of the following presentations:
- APA citation style
- Chicago citation style
- Formatting an academic paper
- MLA citation style
- Outlining basics
- Plagiarism
- Prewriting
- Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
- Thesis statements
- Writing a college paper
- Writing a personal statement
- Writing a scholarship essay
- Writing a timed essay
If there is a topic you do not see on this list but would be interested in having presented to your class or group, please contact us and we can develop a presentation for you.
Orientation is a great way to introduce your class to the Writing Center and what we have to offer. Our staff will visit your class—or you can visit the center—and provide information about our services. We can also tailor the presentation to your specific class needs.
Please schedule your orientation at least one week in advance.
Is there a writing-related topic that would benefit your class or group? Our staff can come to your class or event to lead a discussion on a variety of topics—from basic outlining skills to writing scholarship essays. We can tailor the presentation to your specific needs and time allotted, but please plan to be present while we are there.
Take advantage of the following presentations:
- APA citation style
- Chicago citation style
- Formatting an academic paper
- MLA citation style
- Outlining basics
- Plagiarism
- Prewriting
- Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
- Thesis statements
- Writing a college paper
- Writing a personal statement
- Writing a scholarship essay
- Writing a timed essay
If there is a topic you do not see on this list but would be interested in having presented to your class or group, please contact us and we can develop a presentation for you.
Student Employment
Work in the Writing Center.
We are always looking for qualified applicants to join our staff for the fall and spring semesters. To qualify you must
- be an active, degree-seeking Purdue Fort Wayne student;
- have successfully completed at least one semester at Purdue Fort Wayne;
- be highly responsible and mature;
- possess excellent writing, interpersonal, and oral-communication skills;
- have completed ENGL 13100 and ENGL 23300 (or equivalent) with a B or higher; and
- maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA throughout your employment.
Candidates are encouraged to be enrolled in or have taken the Writing Center theory class, ENGL 397/507, or an equivalent course.
Ready to apply? Complete the online application on Handshake (search for Writing Center consultant) or contact us directly at [email protected].
Your application for must include the following:
- A statement of intent (approximately 500 words) explaining why you wish to work in the center, how your skills and knowledge can help your peers, and why you feel you would be a great addition to our team.
- Two Purdue Fort Wayne faculty recommendations from professors familiar with your writing. Please be sure that the recommendations discuss your writing ability and how the instructor feels you would be beneficial to the campus as a consultant.
- Two writing samples, at least one with extensive citations, that you have written. No group papers.
- A current unofficial PFW transcript.
FAQ
Answers you’re looking for.
In general, a writing center is a place you can go, at any point in your composition process, to help you improve through peer feedback, regardless of your class or major. The PFW Writing Center also offers speech and presentation services, so our students can receive help with written and oral assignments across the university in all disciplines and at all levels and stages of the composition process.
In our center, graduate and undergraduate students will consult on, read, and listen to your work. We ask questions, offer recommendations, and connect you with tools you can use to improve your composition skills. We can help you develop a thesis or an argument, organize your information, assist with citations, help you build an outline, help ensure that you’re following your assignment sheet, incorporate instructor and peer feedback, and more. We can also help to connect you to additional resources on campus.
Our focus isn’t to fix your work but to work with you to discover what is successful (and not so successful in your assignment). Then we help you discover ways to revise. We offer our personal reactions and suggestions based on our knowledge and experience in forms of communication. We can also help you interpret your assignment and implement your instructor’s comments with tried-and-true tips, tricks, and methods.
Our services are paid for by student fees, so you’ll never be asked to pay a consultant at your appointment.
No, the Writing Center offers in-person and online services to accommodate complicated schedules and transportation issues. If you prefer a conversation with your consultant, you can schedule an in-person or virtual appointment through TutorTrac. If you can’t find an appointment time that matches with your schedule or don’t need to talk things through with a consultant, you can submit to our eConsult service (you complete a form and upload your assignment, we’ll return your request in two to three business days).
First, don’t wait until the last minute to schedule your appointment, especially if it’s close to midterms or finals. Our appointments book up fast and you don’t want to miss out on those points. Also, check with your instructor to see if there is a specific type of appointment required. Some instructors want you to speak one-on-one with a consultant and do not accept our eConsult service for credit.
At the end of your appointment, you’ll write up a summary of what was discussed (or the consultant will write up a summary of their recommendations if you’ve used the eConsult service). That summary will be emailed to your university email address along with documentation such as the date and time of your visit, the class you made the appointment for, and the consultant you spoke with. You can give that summary to your instructor as evidence of your time in the center.
You can access your appointment history in TutorTrac to prove you used the center. Log in to TutorTrac and click the Visit History button to see a record of every tutoring and Writing Center appointment you’ve had at PFW.
You can also contact the Writing Center and ask that we resend your appointment summary.
Students can schedule three appointments per class, per six-day period, and one appointment per class, per day. If you schedule more than one appointment per class per day, we will keep the first appointment and cancel the rest.
However, we encourage you to meet with us multiple times. We’re happy to work with you throughout your composition process.
We will wait 10 minutes from the start of your appointment time before we work with a student seeking a walk-in consultation. If you let us know you’re coming and when we can expect you, we may still be able to work with you, as well as the student walk-in.