Welcome to the Writing Center
The Writing Center Room (3) 203 - Division of Liberal Arts English Department
Contact Us FAQ
WrintingCenter@rcc.mass.edu
A Brief History:
The Writing Center at Roxbury Community College is located in the Academic Building, on the 2nd floor, in Room 203. In the 1990’s, faculty members in the English Department began to see a need to develop a writing center where students could access support in their writing. It would also be a place where faculty could share ideas, concerns, and best practices in the teaching of writing.
Their vision became a reality with funding from a Campus Participation and Improvement Grant. The Writing Center acquired technology (26 computers, printers and a projector) and became fully operational in 2000. Thanks to the leadership and commitment of the English Department and Professors Bette Steinmuller and Nancy Teel, who served as the first Coordinators, the center has now become one of the busiest academic support centers at the college. In 2002, Professor Judy Kahalas assumed the position of Coordinator, and the center has expanded its hours to accommodate evening students.
Using the Center:
Open Hours: Whenever the door is open, students are welcome to use the Writing Center. All students must sign in electronically. Computers 1 – 8 have Microsoft Word 2007; all others have Word 2003.
Reserved Hours: Professors may reserve the Writing Center for their classes. In this case, the door is often closed if a large class is occupying the seats. However, if it is a small class and there are seats available, students may come in to use a computer and work independently.
Workshops and Presentations: Each week the Writing Center holds workshops and presentations to help students improve their writing. Information is posted around campus and also sent to students via their RCC email account. All students are welcome to attend workshops that they feel would help them to become better writers. Some of the topics covered are grammar, developing a paragraph, writing an essay, plagiarism, the research paper, etc.
Tutoring: The Writing Center offers individual tutoring to all students who request support in writing an academic paper. There are three ways to request an appointment: students may stop by the writing center, they may email their request to writingcenter@roxbury.edu; or they may telephone the center at 617.427.0060, Ext. 5491. Students should plan to spend a half hour with one of our tutors. They must bring the following to the appointment: a copy of the assignment for which they are writing, a draft of whatever they’ve written to date, and a flash (USB) to save their work.
Students may also drop in at any time for an informal session. However, remember that the Writing Center is not an Emergency Room! We cannot support students who have waited until the last minute to begin writing a paper. We can offer feedback on ways to improve a paper, but we cannot help you write the paper in time for a class later in the day!
The Writing Center tutors do not edit students’ papers! They will encourage students to find their mistakes and learn to correct them through practice.
Printing: The Writing Center allows students to print up to ten (10) pages per day. We do not charge for printing. However, we do not allow printing directly from the internet as this wastes paper and toner. We also do not allow multiple copies of a paper or other document, as we are not a copy center. Printing must be limited to academic work and to single copies of an assignment, unless otherwise directed by a professor.
The Writing Center hopes that all students visit during the semester. We are eager to support academic writing and understand that many students become anxious when they are required to write.
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