What is the Writing Center? The Writing Center provides help free-of-charge to all members of the
DePaul University community, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
We assist writers during all stages of the writing process, from prewriting to
drafting to revising. The Writing Center employs undergraduate and
graduate students from various disciplines. These Writing Center Tutors are
trained to approach tutorials as your peers, acting as engaged readers of your
written work.
How can the Writing Center help me? While you determine the direction of the sessions, Writing Center
Tutors can help you understand your assignment as well as help you develop
your own ideas for your writing project. They can show you how to revise
your paper and can help you with basic skills such as grammar and mechanics
as well as strategies like summarizing and paraphrasing. Although tutors can
help you identify patterns of grammatical error in your paper, tutors will not
proofread it for you or speculate on what grade you may receive. In addition
to Face-to-Face appointments, the Writing Center also provides Written
Feedback by Email and Online Appointments.
How can I use the Writing Center at a suburban campus? The Writing Center will come to you! In addition to all of the features
described above, the Writing Center provides each quarter a series of
standing weekly Writing Groups which are facilitated in-person by Peer
Writing Tutors at convenient times in each suburban campus, as well as
specialized Forums focused on Advanced Projects and Independent Learning
Pursuits, and Writing Groups by request. For a list of times and locations, visit
http://condor.depaul.edu/writing/what/WG/index.html. Also remember:
quick questions (“Should I capitalize the ‘w’ in Western?”) can be answered
instantly without an appointment during normal business hours using the Chat
With a Tutor function here http://condor.depaul.edu/writing/, and more
extensive one-on-one Written Feedback and Online real-time appointments
can be accomplished from any internet-connected computer if you are unable
to visit the Loop or Lincoln Park Writing Centers in person. For these, you
should call or visit the Writing Center homepage to make an appointment.
When should I make an appointment?
You should schedule your appointment with enough time to think about
and incorporate the feedback you’ll receive. Always bring or upload your
assignment sheet, your paper or working draft (if you have one), and any
source materials, such as an essay or book to which you are responding.
During the session, expect to respond to your tutor’s questions about your
writing process generally and your writing project specifically. Also be aware
that while the tutor feedback process is rapid, they are often booked a week
or more ahead of time, so you would be wise to schedule the appointment as
soon as you know when the assignment is due, rather than waiting till the
week before.
How do I make an appointment?
To schedule a Face-to-Face, Written Feedback by Email, or Online
Appointment, visit www.depaul.edu/writing. You can also call one of our
offices: (312) 362-6726 (Loop Office, 1600 Lewis Center) or (773) 325-4272
(LPC Office, 250 McGaw Hall). When possible the Writing Center accepts
walk-in requests, but it’s always a good idea to schedule your appointment
ahead of time. You may schedule tutorials on an as-needed basis or as weekly
standing appointments up to 3 hours per week. For our suburban campuses,
the Writing Center makes a point of educating all tutors and group facilitators
about the nuances of the SNL program, but if you have any concerns
regarding this, or would like a tutor recommendation, please don’t hesitate to
contact the Coordinator for Writing Groups, Edward Evins (himself a graduate
of the SNL program) at (312) 362-6758 or writinggroups@depaul.edu.