General Information
The Writing Centers across campus are open to all SIUC students who would like assistance with any aspect of their writing. The aim of the Centers is to help students improve their writing skills and become more effective editors of their own essays. Students will gain the most out of their work with the Center’s tutors if they come ready to be involved in working on their writing.
Students may visit any of the locations for either regular-weekly or single-visit appointments, or sign up for single-visit Online Writing Lab (OWL) sessions, in which you chat about your paper with a tutor online. In-person sessions at our campus sites start at the top of the hour and last for 50 minutes, whereas OWL sessions begin 20 minutes into the hour, allowing the tutor to read the student’s draft, submitted ahead of time, before the chat begins. Single-visit appointments of either type may be made two days in advance. See our Hours and Locations page for links to the tutor schedules of the three locations.
Whether in-person or online, tutors will work with students at any stage of the writing process and discuss with them how to focus the meeting on the students’ individual writing concerns. If students would like to keep their instructors or advisors informed of their visits, they may request that a conference summary be sent.
For students who would like to use our services, we offer more detailed information on our For Students section, including answers to frequently asked questions and suggestions for making the most of your visit.
For instructors interested in our services, we offer more detailed information on our For Instructors section, including how to refer a student to the Writing Center or to request an introduction to the Center’s services by a Writing Center tutor.