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Welcome to the University Writing Center |
Our Mission
The University Writing Center's primary mission is to promote and support a culture of writing in the liberal arts tradition at the University of South Dakota and in the surrounding community. To achieve its mission, the UWC offers one-to-one, small group, and large group support for writers at all levels and across all disciplines. Faculty, staff, and student writers are welcome in the UWC. In short, the UWC's primary goal is to make better writers.
The USD Writing Center assists student writers enrolled in courses at the University of South Dakota in developing their individual writing skills as well as any faculty/staff who would like a second set of eyes on a piece of writing. Any USD student, faculty, or staff may come to the UWC for individualized writing instruction for any writing, whether academic, personal, creative, business, undergraduate- or graduate-level.
What the Writing Center does
Writing consultants work with writers to help them with any part of the writing process, including prewriting, organizing, developing paragraphs, revising, or reviewing sentence structure and areas of grammatical weakness. Consultants will provide explanatory sheets and perhaps necessary exercises on specific areas of writing. Consultants can assist writers in the correct documentation of their writing, whether MLA or APA. The UWC also offers individualized and group listening and speaking sessions for students, faculty, or staff who are non-native speakers of English and (for students) are enrolled in English writing or language courses.
What the Writing Center Does Not Do
The writing center does not offer "drop-off" proofreading and editing for students or faculty/staff. While writers can work with consultants in planning, revising, and editing an essay, the writing center does not replace the activities of the classroom.
Scheduling an Appointment
Typical appointments are either 30 minutes or an hour (when scheduling an appointment, indicate which you prefer), and students can either schedule appointments in advance or just drop in (for Dakota Hall 201). Schedule an appointment by calling 677-5626 during our regular hours. Please do not e-mail for an appointment. For ID Weeks 204, advance scheduling is not available--drop-in appointments only.
The Writing Center Process
Writers should schedule appointments at least two or three days before a writing assignment is due. This may allow the consultant to suggest that another session would be helpful before the writing task is completed. Also, writers should bring a copy of the writing assignment when available so that the consultant can understand the requirements for a particular piece of writing.
Finally, writers should be prepared to talk about their writing. As difficult as it may seem, writers should identify the weaknesses in particular parts of the text; the consultant can't just guess that a writer needs help with pronouns, sentence structure, or subject-verb agreement. The most effective sessions are those in which both the writer and the consultant are involved.
Hours of Operation (Dakota Hall 201, Fall 2008):
Mondays - Wednesdays 9:00-6:00, Thursdays 9:00-5:00, Fridays 9:00-3:00
Hours of Operation (ID Weeks 205, Fall 2008):
Sundays - Thursdays 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (drop in appointments only)
Online Writing Center is closed until Spring.
