The George Mason University Writing Center

1. The George Mason University Writing Center The Writing Center is a free writing support service for Mason’s students, faculty, and staff at all levels and across all disciplines.

2. Locations and Hours Original Building, Room 311 Hours of Operation: Tuesday 3:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Thursday 3:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Additional Locations (hours vary): Fairfax campus: Enterprise 076 Fairfax campus: Robinson 114A Prince William campus: Occoquan Bldg. 219 A Fenwick Library, B-104: Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Johnson Center Library: Wednesday: 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Or at our Virtual Location, the Online Writing Lab SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT ONLINE!!! www.writingcenter.gmu.edu

3. About Appointments • Sessions last for 45 minutes • You may schedule up to FIFTEEN appointments a semester • TWO appointments per week

4. In the typical session, you and the tutor will… • Review the assignment (please bring the prompt!) • Read through the piece of writing • Have a conversation about your work in order to help you figure out how to improve your writing and you as a writer! • Set your goals for the session: jointly prioritize what aspects of your essay you will discuss (depending on when the essay is due). • Focus on what we call “higher-order concerns” (thesis, organization, flow, introductions and conclusions) and then, address the “lower-order concerns” (grammar, sentence structure, punctuation or style)—unless you want to focus the session differently.

5. We Will Help You… …improve your writing skills by working one-on-one with you. We aim to help improve you as a writer, not only the draft at hand. …throughout the writing process, from brainstorming to finishing touches. …with any type of writing across all disciplines. We can also help you with personal writing (creative writing, application essays, cover letters, etc.) …learn a variety of helpful skills and strategies practiced by successful writers WE WILL NOT… …edit or proofread your paper.We are not an editing service. …just read and comment on your paper. When you sign up for a session you are signing up to have a conversation with someone about your writing!

6. Resources for Writers www.writingcenter.gmu.edu/resources/index.html -On-Site Workshops: • Research Process • Revision • Oral Presentation • Grammar • Policy Memo • Effective Business Writing • Personal Statement • Building an Argument Check the Writing Center Calendar for details

7. Resources for Writers www.writingcenter.gmu.edu/resources/index.html -Online Workshops -Guides, Handbooks, and Discipline-specific resources -Handouts about writing and the writing process -Handouts on grammar and mechanics -Quick Reference Style Guides (MLA, APA, Chicago) All handouts and guides are also available online!

8. Resources for Writing in the Disciplines Discipline-specific writing guides available online • School of Management • Public and International Affairs • Psychology • Biology • Nursing • History • New Century College • Religious Studies • Natural Sciences • Information Technology • Quantitative Sciences www.writingcenter.gmu.edu/resources/index.html

9. Online Writing Lab (OWL) • Be tutored with the convenience of email. • We try to make OWL sessions as close to a face-to-face session as possible. The tutor will spend 45 minutes reading, asking you questions and offering you writing advice to help you decide what to do next and help you grow as a writer. • Sign up for OWL via our Online Scheduler (choose the Online Writing Lab option from the drop-down menu). • Once you’ve scheduled your appointment, email your document to owl@gmu.edu AT LEAST ONE HOUR in advance of your online session. • As with all of our sessions, please remember to provide the prompt and an idea of what you would like to focus on during the session. • Please e-mail Word documents only.

10. The ESL Opt-In Support Program In response to faculty and student interest in better supporting our multilingual and international students, the Writing Center is launching a new program to offer just this type of support. The program was designed specifically for students whose first language is not English who feel they might benefit from additional, targeted support over the course of an entire semester.

11. The ESL Opt-In Support Program Students in our opt-in ESL program will benefit from: • CONTINUITY: Students will meet WITH THE SAME TUTOR for up to 30 sessions, twice per week. This enables both the student and tutor to build on what they have worked on in previous sessions. • DIRECT HELP WITH SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENTS: Students will work with their tutor for a minimum of TWO sessions PER ASSIGNMENT. Each session will be devoted to sentence-level mechanics or to larger overall concerns such as argument and organization. • WORKSHOPS: Tutors will recommend writing center workshops to their tutees based on their specific needs. The Writing Center offers a variety of workshops: The Research Process workshop series in 3 parts, How to Build an Argument, the Revision Process and a Grammar Refresher. For specific dates, please check our calendar of events on the homepage. To sign up for the Opt-In Support Program, schedule an appointment with an ESL Specialist through the online scheduler. Select the ESL Specialist drop-down menu. During your first appointment, inform your tutor that you would like to register for the Opt-In program. She will then schedule you for two appointments per week for the whole semester. For any questions, please contact Kathy Goodkin at wcenter@gmu.edu.