Writing Center

You can make an appointment through our website (click one of the “make an appointment” buttons at the top of this webpage), by calling us at 952-358-8624, or by stopping by our front desk in College Services 2190.   

Tutoring sessions are 50 minutes long and can be held on campus in C2190 or virtually over Zoom. 

Not always! For on-campus tutoring sessions, we take walk-ins according to tutor availability. For virtual sessions, we generally require an appointment, but you can call our front desk at 952-358-8624 to see if we have a tutor available to meet you online at that moment.

When you schedule a virtual appointment, a confirmation email will be sent to your Normandale email address. This confirmation email will contain a link to your tutor’s Zoom room. Click on this link to meet your tutor at the appointed time. 

It is helpful if you join the Zoom on the same computer that you are writing your paper on. This way you can share your screen with your tutor to show them your draft. It is also helpful if you are already logged into D2L so you can show your tutor the assignment instructions and other course materials. 

If your tutor is not already in the Zoom room, please wait a few minutes. They may be finishing a prior session or logging into their computer. If they do not arrive after five minutes, please call our front desk at 952-358-8624 to let us know that you are waiting. 

You are limited to one session per tutor, per class, per day. That means you can work with multiple tutors in the same day, and you can take advantage of tutoring every day of the semester, if your schedule allows. 

Unfortunately, we are only open during daytime hours on weekdays when classes are in session. When we are closed, you can receive writing support from Tutor.com, which is available online 24/7. You can find more information about Tutor.com further down this webpage. 

You can also refer to the Writing Resources on this webpage. 

In short, no, we don’t provide written feedback on drafts. We believe that conversations about your writing—about your writing purpose, your ideas, and the choices you make in how you organize and express them—are powerful tools for improving both your essay and your skills. This is why we structure our writing tutoring sessions as person-to-person conversations. We encourage you to write notes and make revisions during your session, and sometimes we will make notes for you, as well. We want you to remain in control of your writing, though, so we keep our hands off your papers and keyboard. 

If you want written feedback without an in-person session, we encourage you to use the drop-off essay service through Tutor.com. You can find more information about Tutor.com further down this webpage. 

We will not edit or proofread your work for you, but we can guide you through the process of editing and proofreading your own work. We can identify patterns of grammatical or punctuation errors and explain ways to correct them. And we can coach you as you edit for clarity and precision. 

You are welcome to work with a writing tutor at any point of the writing process, but a tutoring session can be particularly powerful at these times: 

• Early in the writing process, when you are generating and organizing your ideas. Talking about your ideas with a writing tutor is a great way to elaborate them, and you can create an outline and a work plan to get you started on a productive path. Having an outline and a work plan can help prevent procrastination. 

• Partway through a draft, if you’re feeling stuck or want a reader’s feedback on whether your argument makes sense and comes through clearly. As writers, it is often difficult to know whether our writing is communicating our ideas clearly and persuasively. We need readers’ feedback to learn where our writing is confusing or less convincing to know how to strengthen it. 

• With a full draft, for a reader’s feedback, to check it against the assignment’s requirements, or to address concerns you have about your writing. We can also help you check your citations. 

So many reasons! First, using an AI tool could violate your instructor’s rules on academic integrity. Be sure to check your syllabus for guidance on AI-use before using any AI tool in your writing.  Our peer writing tutors support you while respecting your academic integrity. 

Second, AI tools can provide quick feedback on grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, but a writing tutor is better equipped to offer personalized guidance based on your specific needs. A writing tutor can help you better understand assignment requirements, challenge you to think more critically about your arguments, and prompt you to develop your own ideas more fully by engaging you in conversation. If you have trouble with a particular aspect of grammar, they can explain it and coach you as you correct errors. You remain in control of your words, style, and voice, rather than ceding that control to a Large Language Model.  

Third, we write to communicate with other human beings, and you may find that your writing becomes more meaningful to you when a human reader engages with your words and ideas. Writing is cognitively complex, hard work, and working with a peer writing tutor can be both motivating and fun. Humans bring empathy and joy to learning. Try it, and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it! 

You are not alone. Asking for help can be uncomfortable, and sharing a writing project-in-process often feels vulnerable. We know that, and we aim to be sensitive to those feelings. All writers need and benefit from readers’ feedback, though, and we view seeking help and feedback as a sign of strength. We are here to meet you where you are and make sure you feel welcome, respected, and valued in our space.  

You’ve got this, and we’ve got you! 

The Writing with Integrity is an hour-long, one-on-one tutorial session with the Writing Center Coordinator, focused on helping build your understanding of why and how to avoid plagiarism, misuse of generative AI tools, and other academic integrity issues while writing.  

We discuss how to keep track of sources while researching; how to paraphrase, quote, and cite sources; which kinds of information require citation and which don’t; how to avoid generative AI tools when they are forbidden, and how to acknowledge and cite those tools when they are allowed. 

This tutorial may be assigned by an instructor or the student conduct officer, recommended by an advisor, or chosen by students themselves.