THE UNDERGRADUATE WRITING CENTER
This service can help students write more
effectively--and more independently--in courses.
The Undergraduate Writing Center provides professional consulting services for students who want to improve their writing. Located in FAC 211 (Flawn Academic Center), the UWC is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. Students are encouraged to call ahead to make appointments (471-6222), but they will work with students on a walk-in basis as well.
The UWC's mission--improving undergraduate writing and supporting undergraduate education at The University of Texas at Austin--has effective and ethical rhetoric at its core. "We train our writing consultants to approach each session from the following points of departure: the assignment of the particular instructor, the expectations of the particular discipline, and the goals of the particular student. Students can bring their assignments to the UWC and work with a consultant on any aspect of their writing--from brainstorming to developing and organizing an argument to learning the conventions of usage and punctuation. Our consultants use your directions and students' notes to define the goals of each session, but the students are responsible for the quality of their papers. Consultants will be happy to send you a brief e-mail describing each session, if the student requests it."
They share a commitment to improving undergraduate writing, with the faculty, and they encourage faculty to send them copies of assignments, sample student papers, or any other materials that would help us assist the students. Members of their staff are happy to come to class to tell students what the Undergraduate Writing Center can do for them. They also have two websites that may prove helpful to students and their professors:
UWC Website: http://uwc.fac.utexas.edu/index.php
VIRGIL Website: Award winning, interactive website designed to guide students through the writing process: http://lovecraft.cwrl.utexas.edu/virgil/
We are also available to present workshops targeting discipline-specific writing concerns. Please see the link below for more information on presentations, including how to schedule them.
PRESENTATIONS: http://uwc.fac.utexas.edu/pages/faculty/presentations.html.
"We respectfully request of professors that you encourage but not require your students to come to the Center. Despite professors’ good intensions, students who are required to visit the UWC (and even students offered extra credit) often do not focus on becoming better writers—only on showing up."
Scott
Blackwood
Program
Coordinator, M.F.A.
Undergraduate
Writing Center
FAC 211
(G3000)
University
of Texas at Austin
232-2730