Writing Center

The Writing Center provides Arcadia University students, faculty and staff with one-on-one, collaborative guidance on their writing. We work with writers in all disciplines and majors on any assignment and at any stage of the writing process. Through open-ended discussion, writing, and sharing, we help writers to better understand the decisions they make in their writing and to adapt responsibly to a wide variety of writing across the disciplines.

Consultants are faculty-nominated and trained to facilitate critical thinking and discussion about writing. Consultants have also received additional training in working with English language learners, multi-lingual learners, and graduate-level writing assignments. We help writers to:

• Determine audience and purpose for assignments
• Brainstorm/generate ideas for writing
• Develop ideas clearly and fully
• Determine an organization that best suits an audience and purpose
• Refine and sharpen focus and claims
• Critically evaluate and responsibly integrate the voices of other writers into their own writing
• Discover proof-reading strategies that will help them to turn in their best work

During the Covid-19 pandemic, all Writing Center services will be online. We’ve broadened our hours to accommodate changes in students schedules, especially those working or taking care of others during Covid-19. The Writing Center is now open for virtual consultations through Zoom 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and late mornings through afternoons on Saturdays and Sundays.

All Writing Center consultations will be conducted through Zoom and can be scheduled quickly and easily through WCOnline, our scheduling system. In addition to scheduled virtual sessions, we also offer the following services:

Drop-in Online Sessions

You can now click on a link in the Writing Center schedule to drop-in for a session, even online. If a consultant is available, they can assist you even if you don't have an appointment.

INFO ABOUT DROP-IN ONLINE SESSIONS

Submit a Draft for Written Feedback

Don't have time for a session through Zoom? You can now have a Writing Center consultation asynchronously! Submit your draft on our scheduling system and receive written feedback from one of our trained consultants within 48 hours.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR DRAFT

To make an appointment:

• Make an appointment online at our scheduling site.
• Email writingcenter@arcadia.edu to set up an appointment. A staff member may reply back asking for information such as course, instructor, assignment, etc. in order to help make the appointment. You'll receive a confirmation email once your appointment is officially scheduled).

All synchronous consultations will be held through Zoom. Please bring your assignment sheet, notes, and (if any) all drafts of your paper. You should come prepared to discuss your paper, take notes, and write. Appointments are highly recommended, as the Writing Center experiences high volume at several points throughout each semester.

• A webcam, microphone, and a broadband connection allow us to conduct sessions through videoconference. However, these are not required in order to have an online session; sessions can be conducted through chat using the system, and by phone, if necessary.
•  If you are working with a draft, you can attach your draft to an appointment in advance to allow you consultant plenty of time to read it. Here are instructions for attaching files in WCOnline, if you need them.
• Your consultant can still work with you on brainstorming or pre-writing (generating ideas, understanding the assignment) in an online session. Just be sure to indicate this when scheduling your appointment.
• If you experience login problems and/or issues with the online system, please email writingcenter@arcadia.edu, and we’ll respond to you as soon as possible