Writing Centre services

Writing is a skill

Writing is a lifelong learning skill that is essential to scholarly and professional communication. The Writing Centre helps RRU students become skillful writers by providing assistance face-to-face, by phone, and online for all types of academic writing (e.g., course assignment, major project, thesis/dissertation, scholarly communication).

Students can receive timely assistance at all stages of writing through one-on-one support and online resources. We do not proofread or edit students’ work; instead, we help students build skills and confidence by empowering their development as writers.

Which service should you choose?

We offer three different appointment types that are geared toward different student needs.

30-minute appointments

Learning English for Academic Purposes (LEAP)

Are you a multilingual student looking for help with improving your writing in North American academic English? Learning English for Academic Purposes (LEAP) appointments are intended for English language learners, so please book a 30-minute LEAP appointment with us so we can assist you to improve your English writing skills. During the appointment, we’ll use up to 25 minutes to talk with you about English grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary, so you can identify, understand, and avoid common English errors in your writing. The last five minutes are set aside for us to send you an email with resources that will help you to build skills in the area(s) we discussed.

LEAP appointments are an opportunity for you to:

• ask questions about English grammar, sentence structure, or vocabulary (e.g. choosing prepositions or verb tenses; using commas or semicolons)
• feel more confident about expressing your ideas clearly in written English
• learn about specific resources to help you continue to strengthen and improve your writing

In alignment with the Writing Centre’s booking policies, students can schedule a maximum of one appointment per day and a maximum of two appointments per week.

What to expect from a LEAP appointment

Please come prepared with one or two questions about English grammar, sentence structure, and/or vocabulary that you’d like to discuss. You will always maintain the authorship of your text, which means we won’t review the document before the appointment in order to provide feedback or suggestions on the text, nor will we edit or otherwise make changes to your document during the appointment. Instead, we’ll provide information and examples during our conversation that will assist you to make your own changes. At all times, you will be responsible for the content in your document and for your own successes.

Ask questions pertaining to an unmarked essay or an instructor's feedback in a marked essay

Do you need information or help to move forward with an unmarked individual assignment? Please book a 30-minute appointment to meet with us so that we can assist you! During our conversation, we'll have a maximum of 25 minutes available to assist you by providing information and answering your questions. The last five minutes are set aside for us to send you an email with the resources discussed during the conversation.

The conversation can focus on one or two key questions or challenges, such as:

• getting started (e.g., brainstorming strategies, developing a thesis statement, writer's block)
• structure (e.g., essay structure, developing a plan or outline, paragraphs)
• arguments (e.g., developing claims, using evidence, demonstrating critical thinking)
• improving sentences (e.g., English grammar, word choice, sentence structure, wordiness, self-editing strategies)
• APA Style (e.g., formatting, citations, referencing)
• questions about writing skills identified in an instructor's feedback in a previously-marked individual essay.
  • If you do not require additional feedback on an essay, but you'd like to discuss the skills noted by your instructor so you have new information to improve those areas in future works, we can help!

Please note that we do not review works in advance of 30-minute appointments, and please come prepared with the questions you'd like to discuss.

What to expect from a 30-minute appointment

You will always maintain the authorship of your text, which means we won’t review the document before the appointment in order to provide feedback or suggestions on the text, nor will we proofread, edit, or otherwise make changes to your document during the appointment. Instead, we’ll provide information and examples during our conversation that will assist you to make your own changes. At all times, you will be responsible for the content in your document and for your own successes.

60-minute appointments

Improve overall as a writer through a detailed review and discussion of a marked, individual essay

As scholar-practitioners, RRU students develop their writing skills to be effective communicators in both their academic work and their careers. If you would like to learn more about yourself as an author and improve your writing skills, please book a 60-minute appointment to meet with us so that we may assist you!

Note:

• Students must book 60-minute appointments and send the marked version of their document that includes the instructor's feedback as a Word file at least three business days in advance.
• Requests with insufficient lead time will result in the appointment being cancelled.

On the day before the appointment, we will send you written feedback in your graded essay (see Stage 1: Written feedback below) as well as recommended resources to view before the appointment. Reading the feedback and viewing the resources will take at least one hour, so please choose a date and time that will give you sufficient time to complete those tasks before the meeting.

What to expect from a 60-minute appointment

These appointments have two stages:

Stage 1: Written feedback

We provide detailed feedback on one graded individual essay, and we use the graded version of the work that includes the instructor’s comments so we can address aspects of writing identified by the instructor in our feedback and conversation. Using a graded essay also allows us to confirm the assignment has been marked and will not be resubmitted for further grading, either as a rewrite or as part of an iterative process, to ensure we are not inadvertently providing a detailed edit on the document.

In our written feedback, we provide specific, constructive comments and suggestions regarding all aspects of writing, such as organization, structure of arguments and paragraphs, incorporation of research data, style, grammar, punctuation, and APA Style formatting. We return the document to the student with our feedback and any recommended materials the day before the appointment to give the student time to view all the materials and prepare questions.

Stage 2: Meeting

During the meeting, we'll have a maximum of 50 minutes to discuss positive and challenging patterns in the work, offer specific suggestions that incorporate the student’s preferred approaches to thinking and writing, and answer any questions. The goal of these conversations is to give students practical, helpful information and tools that will assist them to be confident about writing for a variety of audiences.

Bookings and cancellations

Information about bookings and cancellations:

• Scheduled appointments are limited to one appointment per student per day and two appointments per week; appointments may occur face-to-face, online, or by phone.
• Students may only book appointments for themselves.
• Appointments will be cancelled if students are more than 10 minutes late.
• Students are encouraged to cancel appointments as soon as possible, and ideally 24 hours before their appointment, to allow other students to book appointments.
• Repeated failures to cancel appointments and/or repeated failures to appear for scheduled appointments may result in a student being restricted to drop-in meetings.
• Students must book 60-minute appointments and send the marked version of their document that includes the instructor's feedback as a Word file at least three business days in advance. Requests with insufficient lead time will result in the appointment being cancelled.