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 and 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
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, professor of English, 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 under way.
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 watch their inboxes too for announcements of Sunday writing retreats, offering graduate students writers quiet space, time, and healthy snacks — with tutors also available for quick consultation.
Learn more on the Graduate Student Writing Center website, and contact Nancy Welch, nancy.welch@uvm.edu, 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.