Services

"I haven't been to school in over 10 years and I decided to jump in head first. The best thing I've learned so far is that it's okay to ask for help, to say 'I don't get it.'  Afterall, we're all learning together!"  --an SLCC Student

The Student Writing Center offers the following services for student writers at Salt Lake Community College:

• In-person Writing Advising
  • Locations, schedule, and staff.
• Online Writing Advising
• Online Writing Resources
• In-person writing resources
  •  Student Writing Center Library catalog
  • The English Computer Lab
  • Student Publication Lab
• Folio

Please select a link above to find out more about these services.

In-person writing advising

What we do in a tutoring session

The writing advisors here at SLCC Writing Center, like to talk. That might seem  strange in a writing center, but we don't think so. We as writers and writing advisors believe that having a conversation about writing is an excellent way to learn about writing. Learning is the key word there. At the Writing Center we don't correct your papers, and we don't write your papers, but we do help you help you to learn to write them yourself. We talk about what you think about your writing, what you expect from it, and most importantly, how you write. While we will discuss such issues as grammar, organization, and usage, we only do so in the context of your essay, since we first attempt to help you understand the impact and purpose of your writing. As one faculty member put it "...the purpose of the program is to offer students a chance for a dialogue with an advisor about not only writing assignments, but also the whole complex human process of making writing." 

The basis of our conversation is your writing and how your write. We will help you to learn new ways of approaching assignments. You might sit up late at night huddled over a computer with sweating palms and a headache, worried about what you want to write, and how you are going to write it; it may be comforting to know that most accomplished writers, even famous authors, go through this awkward process, but that knowledge doesn't help you at that moment. In the Writing Center we can help you to build a better plan for approaching your writing assignment, and we can make a less lonely experience. We believe that talking about writing can relieve writers of some of the anxiety that the act of writing can produce. 

Through our conversation, we believe that you can find out more about what you have chosen to write about. We all know the knowledge building nature of a conversation. In talking to your math teacher, for example, you can clarify a complex problem, therefore building your knowledge of math. The same thing happens when you talk with a writing advisor. Sometimes talking to someone gets ideas straight in your mind. The conversation can also inspire new, more effective ideas. 

Students who have spoken with a writing advisor have found helpful and positive methods to approach their writing. Surveys of students who visit the Writing Center show that their performance in writing improves after talking to a writing advisor. Cindy Breen, a student here at SLCC, believes that her meetings with a writing advisor help her to "...get an 'A'." Help certainly can be a misleading term. We didn't help Cindy get a better grade, we helped her to learn how to better approach her writing assignments, and get more from the act of writing. While we can't guarantee better grades, we can influence your understanding and confidence toward writing.  

How to get the most out of your advising session

The best thing to be prepared for a tutorial is to think about what you want to get out of the session. While it is sometimes hard to figure out what you want to talk about, you should try to answer these questions: 

• Who am I writing to? 
• What don't I understand about the assignment? 
• What do I expect the advisor to help me with? 
• How much time do I have to write/revise the piece of writing? 
• What questions do I have about the assignment or what I have written? 

It is a good idea to actually write the answers to these questions down so that you can refer back to them in the tutorial. This information will help you and your advisor to focus on what you want to focus on. Remember, you are in charge of the tutorial!

Aside from answering these questions, it is a good idea to bring

• The assignment sheet your instructor gave you; 
• Any drafts, notes, reading materials, etc. that relate directly to what you are writing; 
• Your answers to the questions above; 
• A list of questions you have about the assignment or what you have written. 

Online writing advising

ET is the name of SLCC's online writing advisor. ET allows students with time and location constraints to have contact with a writing advisor. ET, like face to face tutoring, is based on the principles of learning to learn, and learning that the responses of others are good ways to judge what effect your writing is having. Nevertheless, online response is essentially different from an in-person conference, and we often encourage students to make use of our in-person services in conjunction with an online response. Online tutoring is currently offered in through E-mail via a submission form.

Who is ET?

The ET who responds to you online could be any of our writing advisors. Generally, the SLCC Writing Center  to check whether we have received any submissions and to respond as quickly as possible to messages and requests to chat. Responses to ET submissions are usually immediate, but sometimes there is a rush in the in-person Student Writing Center or the Student Writing Center is closed. These conditions make it difficult to respond immediately. If you do not receive a response to your submission within 2 days (excluding weekends), please e-mail call us at 801-957-4893.

What to send to ET

ET will accept any inquiry related to writing. You can be at any stage in your writing process: just starting out (or wanting to start out) or just completing a piece of writing. Please remember, however, that we are writing advisors and may have no knowledge of the specific subject you are writing about. We cannot, therefore, offer answers as to the correctness or incorrectness of your information. We can give a valid response, nevertheless, to how you have chosen to present that information. While questions about grammar are answered, we would encourage you to submit your entire project to get a fuller response from ET. In order to give your advisor the opportunity to respond, it is important to give them a lot of information about the assignment and what you are writing. 

Here is a checklist of what to send to ET: 

• a detailed description of the assignment;
• what you think the assignment is asking you to do; 
• Any questions about the piece of writing or assignment that you would like feedback on. (Include these in the description of the assignment section of the submission form.)
• a copy of the text you wish us to respond to.

Submitting a paper to ET via our submission form

To submit your writing to a writing advisor, either click on the "Submit your Writing" button to the left or here.

In-person Writing Resources

The Student Writing Center has a variety of materials available at the Redwood Campus location.   Most of these materials are books.  The Student Writing Center library, however, is not a circulating library.  Materials may only be used in the Center.  Here is a handy search tool to find items in the library.