“Well, I’ve got more of the usual today: another lit review to pack away toward the history thesis. Man. Anyway, I’ve done the usual for this. I have all my weird grammar questions in bold, so we can look at them . . . think I know what the problem is for some of them, but . . . it doesn’t hurt to double-check.”  The young man shrugs and laughs because we’ve worked together before, and he knows that few things make me happier than when students bring in any questions related to grammar, punctuation, mechanical or usage issues that have been unjustly deemed the stodgy rules of the English language.
        
As a consultant in the Writing Center, I suspect that this type of humor and camaraderie is only a small part of what keeps building student traffic each semester and keeps our regulars coming back. These regulars, who represent a wide variety of disciplines, appreciate our collaborative approach to writing and continue to seek our assistance with writing of all kinds:  the undergraduate English student now uses the WC as a resource for her other classes, the graduate student chips away at his master’s thesis in history, the ESL student is intent on mastering a new language, and the engineering student works on her résumé. Our writing consultants assist students, faculty, and staff from any department, with any type of writing, and during any stage of the writing process—even if that stage is a blank page.

Not only do the students who use the Writing Center hail from various locations on campus, so does the Writing Center staff.  We are a team comprised of graduate students, TAs, full- and part-time faculty from the English, Sociology, Humanities, and other departments on campus.  We find ourselves working with writers whose goals include feeling comfortable enough to delve into the deeper and more complex aspects of the writing process and revisiting and revising their writing when necessary.

The Writing Center equips students with the tools to assess and improve writing on their own without feeling overwhelmed or lost by a list of writing “dos” and “don’ts.”  Rather, writers who visit us is free to ask specific or open-ended questions while they receive feedback from someone who has faith that the writer will be able to step away on his or her own without falling down.  Our goal is to arm writers with enough knowledge that they may eventually lead themselves to the answers they seek.  Since revision and knowledge of resources are integral parts of this process, help from the Writing Center is available in different formats: We offer individual consultations with people who arrive at the WC on a walk-in basis or appointment basis; we also offer synchronous online help.

The Writing Center staff is available to visit classrooms and present our services to both faculty and students; please call to schedule a visit.  For more information about the UCD Writing Center’s staff, availability, online hours, or any other questions, please visit our website at http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/writing/ or call 303-556-4845.