The Writing Center is a place for helping students improve their writing. Some students think we are just a proof-reading service; however, we don’t correct papers and give them back. Instead, consultants and students talk together to identify areas of concern. Consultants can share a variety of strategies and advice about writing situations and challenges. The Writing Center helps with any stage of the writing process: getting started with a prompt, organizing a draft, documenting sources research, formatting according to a style guide, proofreading for a polished draft, and style.
The Writing Center is open to all students: undergraduate, DCP, and graduate; and both on- and off-campus students.
Consultants provide the same personal services for distance students as traditional undergraduate students receive. DCP students can use telephone or Zoom appointments to meet with Writing Center staff; off-campus students should telephone (704) 406-4393 at their appointment time.
Students can expect an informal session with a consultant. They’ll be asked to share their writing (or ideas) as they talk through what’s working and what’s not working. Consultants will do more than correct a paper; they will teach the student techniques for working through the problem while giving specific guidelines to improve a working text.
We make appointments by the hour. Depending on a student’s particular needs, a session may not last the full hour. If they need more help, we may encourage a follow-up appointment.
An appointment is not necessary, but is the only way to guarantee help from a consultant. If there are more students requesting help than there are consultants available, appointments will be honored before walk-in requests. There are a couple of ways in which students can make an appointment. They can come to the Writing Center (Tucker Student Center Rm 327) to make an appointment, make an appointment in Webb Connect using the “Writing Center Appointment Scheduler,” or call us at (704) 406-4393.
We can help with a variety of writing assignments. We are fortunate to have interdisciplinary representation among our staff, featuring a variety of majors depending on staff specialties, including Nursing, Psychology, Journalism, English, Physical Education, Religion, and Business. Our consultants have experience writing and reading papers from a variety of disciplines and have resources available on the various styles of documentation (MLA, APA, Turabian, AMA) required by the different departments on campus.
When students visit the Writing Center, they should bring a copy of the assignment to give consultants an idea of guidelines. In addition, they should bring their writing or research either in print or electronic format. If revising an assignment, students should bring any feedback they’ve received from peers or their instructor.
The Writing Center is open Monday – Friday. Please check WebbConnect for specific hours. Our schedule changes a bit each semester depending on staff schedules.
The Writing Center is a free service of Gardner-Webb University for all students.
Yes, most of our students come multiple times. Many students make regular appointments and establish strong working relationships with consultants. In order to ensure efficient and productive consultation with students, Gardner-Webb has the following policy regarding usage of writing center services:
GWU’s Writing Center is staffed by consultants who are undergraduate and graduate students. They are referred by GWU faculty for their excellence in writing and working with others. In addition, the Writing Center Director, provides approximately thirty hours of training each year in writing instruction.
Yes, the staff are happy to help students learn documentation styles and correctly cite their research. We have training in MLA, APA, and Turabian documentation and have a variety of resources in other frequently assigned styles in the center. Please, keep in mind that students will be responsible for indicating which portions of their paper are not their own words/ideas. The Writing Center is not responsible for any accusations of plagiarism a student may receive on an assignment after visiting the Writing Center. Writing Center consultants do their best to point out any forms of plagiarism in writing assignments brought to them. However, they are not responsible for a student’s paper and any neglect of making suggested corrections. It is ultimately the student’s responsibility not the Writing Center consultants to make sure there is no plagiarism in an assignment.
A dissertation is a complex, theory-dense monograph that is beyond the Writing Center’s resources in terms of discipline-specific training and time. When students reach that point as a scholar, they are composing texts that are advanced, targeted for specialized audiences of faculty and scholars. For this reason, writing center staff are not equipped to edit or help students’ revise dissertations.Contact your program director for recommendations for dissertation editors who have discipline-specific (e.g., Education, Nursing, Business) knowledge of your topic, format, and documentation style.
