The Graduate Writing Center at UVM, though only eight years old, has roots that stretch back to over four decades of writing support at the university. The origins of what was "The Writing Center" began in 1982, when Kathy Skubikowski, an English faculty member, founded a Faculty-Designed Living/Learning Program. In this program, a small group of students lived together in a suite and learned to tutor writing, providing writing support to about twenty students in that first year.

When Kathy left for Middlebury College in 1983, Sue Dinitz, another English faculty member, stepped in to continue the program. Sue then teamed up with Jean Kiedaisch, each directing or co-directing until Jean's retirement in 2008. In 1984, The Writing Center joined forces with the TRIO/Student Services Program, becoming part of UVM’s Learning Cooperative, an academic support hub for students. By 2000, a second tutoring room opened in Howe Memorial Library, and in 2009, Sue and Writing Center rooms moved completely to the library, aligning with the new Writing in the Disciplines Program. 

Though the Writing Center had expanded its reach significantly, connecting with students more than 3000 times per academic-year by 2015-16 through tutoring alone, it was mostly staffing and supporting undergraduate students. Recognizing the need for graduate student support, Sue, Writing in the Disciplines Director Susanmarie Harrington, and English Professor Nancy Welch approached the Graduate College and pitched the idea of an additional writing center that was staffed by and served graduate students.

In January 2016, the Graduate College launched the Graduate Writing Center under the leadership of English professor Nancy Welch. Though the new center was housed in a small office in the basement of Waterman building, thanks to Nancy's diligence, it connected with students about 150 times in its first semester.

In 2018, the Howe Library generously donated adjacent spaces to the Graduate and Undergraduate Writing Centers on the ground floor, transforming the Writing Center and Graduate Writing Center into UVM Writing Centers. This marked the first time all of the Undergraduate Writing Center spaces were housed in one physical space and the Graduate Writing Center was in a space visible to students.

After 35 years of writing center support and finally seeing her vision of a cohesive UVM Writing Centers come to life, Sue retired in 2018. Sheila Boland Chira took over the Undergraduate Writing Center, while Nancy continued to lead the Graduate Writing Center through the pandemic and until her retirement in 2022. Lecturer of English Holly Painter then stepped in as interim coordinator for the 2023-24 academic year, before passing the baton to Professor of English Liz Fenton in the fall of 2024.

Despite still rebounding from the pandemic, in 2023-24, the Graduate Writing Center had about 1000 contacts with students and the Undergraduate Writing Center had about 5500. This remarkable growth is thanks to the many tutors, directors, supporters, and units throughout the years.