Supporting Graduate Student Writers
While UVM’s Writing Center has supported undergraduate writers for more than 30 years, no comparable service has been available for graduate students — until now.
This semester the new Graduate Writing Center opened its doors in Waterman, just next door to the computer lab. Staffed by four peer tutors from graduate programs across the campus, the Graduate Writing Center gives one-to-one guidance to master’s and doctoral students on class assignments, theses, dissertations, and much more.
In the Graduate Writing Center, graduate students meet with experienced tutors for free individual and small-group consultations. The tutors are trained to work with writers at any stage of writing: brainstorming and drafting, organizing and developing, editing and final polish. The tutors are also ready to assist with particular challenges: breaking through writer’s block, understanding U.S. academic style and conventions, grasping the features of specialized genres, or navigating a multi-chapter writing project.
Learning through Conversation
At the heart of every tutorial is the understanding that good writing depends on a writer developing a sense of purpose — and discerning options and making choices to advance that purpose. In the Graduate Writing writers can develop their sense of purpose and their choice-making abilities through conversation with a knowledgeable, engaged reader. Like the undergraduate writing center, the Graduate Writing Center isn’t a drop-off editing service. Instead, students sit down with a tutor to talk about a draft, puzzle through an assignment, converse about options, and try out next steps.
For this first pilot semester the Graduate Writing Center offers in-person tutoring only. Anticipating a successful pilot, Coordinator Nancy Welch also expects coming semesters to bring online (synchronous and asynchronous) tutoring for graduate students enrolled in low-residency degree programs or engaged in research away from campus. Plans for “quick-start workshops” and a “Camp Completion” for dissertation and thesis writers are also underway.
Meanwhile, all UVM graduate students may visit the Graduate Writing Center website for details on scheduling a one-on-one appointment. Students and program directors should also watch their inboxes for announcements of Sunday writing retreats, offering graduate students writers quiet space, time, and healthy snacks — with tutors available for quick consultation.
Meet the Tutors — and Let Us Hear from You
Under the guidance of English Professor Nancy Welch, the Graduate Writing Center is staffed in its inaugural semester by four tutors:
- Sara Clarke, master’s student in English
- Leigh Ann Holterman, pre-doctoral fellow in Psychology
- Jessica Sheehe, doctoral student in Celluar, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences
- Elizabeth Van Horn, master’s student in History
Each tutor comes to the Graduate Writing Center with a strong record in writing and demonstrated interest in supporting other writers. Each also participates in an ongoing tutor-development program to enhance their understanding of and approaches to working with graduate student writers across disciplinary settings and assignments.
The Graduate Writing Center welcomes hearing from members of the UVM graduate community. Visit the website to learn about each tutor and make an appointment. Contact Nancy Welch to discuss tutor support for special projects or to arrange for a tutor to make a presentation about the Center to your program or class. Stay tuned, too, for upcoming announcements: about Sunday writing retreats, dissertation and thesis workshops, and — coming in March — calls for applications for next year’s Graduate Writing Center tutors.