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Summer 2021 Writing Center 

For summer 2021, starting Monday, June 21, the Cornell Writing Centers (CWC) will be offering online, synchronous tutoring sessions by appointment or drop-in. Writers will need to register for accounts and make appointments.

The CWC provides support for individuals at any stage of the writing process. It is a free resource available to all of Cornell—undergraduate students, pre-freshman and high schoolers in summer programs, graduate students, staff, faculty, and alumni—for nearly any kind of writing project: applications, presentations, lab reports, essays, papers, and more. Tutors (trained graduate students in the summer) serve as responsive listeners and readers who can address questions about the writing process or about particular pieces of writing. They will ask questions that foster critical thinking about your writing, and they will also consider questions of confidence, reading, analytic thought, imagination, and research. All tutors have training in supporting multilingual writers and working with writers remotely online.

While the CWC is supporting writers in many of the same ways we always have in-person, during spring 2020 our tutors noticed that online tutoring also offers a unique opportunity for connection, encouragement, and support in a time of isolation and more autonomous work expectations. Read their reflections! 

Summer Tutoring Schedule 

June 21-July 29, 2021

Sundays-Thursdays, 4:00-5:00pm ET and 7:00-10:00pm ET

Guidelines for Faculty Promoting the Summer Writing Center

We are thrilled to have the resources to offer writing tutoring during the six-week summer session; however, a clear understanding of our limitations can make for a smoother integration of the CWC in your summer course. We have 20 graduate student interns tutoring this summer and expect to have four interns working each evening (4-5pm ET and 7-10pm ET Sundays through Thursdays). Given our availability, here are a few tips for ensuring students can get an appointment:

• Encourage students to make an appointment a week before a project is due.
• Instead of requiring appointments for a specific assignment, we would encourage you to offer students extra credit for making an appointment before the summer session is over. This timeline provides students with more flexibility in scheduling, and thus, a greater likelihood of getting an appointment prior to finishing an assignment.
• We recommend that extra credit for CWC appointments also involve some written reflection. For example, you might ask a student to get tutored and then submit a 500 word reflection on what happened in the tutoring session, what they learned, and what changes they ended up making to their writing as a result.
• Encourage students to come in small groups of 2-4 when working on the same assignment. To do this, only one of the group members needs to make an appointment and note in the appointment form how many group members will be joining the session. To “show up,” they all simply need to login to our scheduling platform at the appointment time and click on the appointment in the schedule.

 

How Online Tutoring Works 

Online tutoring is by appointment only, so to get started, writers need to register for an account and make an appointment. 

Our online appointments offer the option for video-conferencing or text-box chatting, and in order to “show up” for an appointment, you simply need to login to the schedule, click on your appointment, and then click the yellow link that says “START OR JOIN CONVERSATION.” Our tutors will be prepared to help you navigate technology issues—they will email you to check-in and offer help should you have any trouble “showing up.”

Check-out this video demo for how to make and "show up" for an appointment: 

Though we work hard to ensure smooth online appointments, due to the regularity of technical and other unforeseen issues, we ask all writers to make hour-long appointments. If technology/internet issues do arise or you're struggling to "show up," don't worry--our tutors are trained to reach out and help and they all have a back-up plan! 

In order to get the best tutoring experience possible, we encourage writers to:

• Select 4-6 pages to focus on in one session
• Come with specific questions you have about your writing
• Bring the assignment prompt, if you have one
• Be prepared to engage in discussion and do some collaborative work

 

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Want to learn more about the Cornell Writing Centers and get some great writing tips? Follow us on social media! 

Twitter @Cornell_Writing

Facebook @CornellWritingCenters

Instagram @CornellWritingCenters 

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Feedback & Questions

Have you visited the Cornell Writing Centers recently? Would you like to offer us your feedback? Click here: WC Feedback

• For answers to questions about the WC or if you need special assistance, contact Kate Navickas, WC Director.
• See our Editing Policy for our approach to supporting writers with sentence-level issues.