Frequently Asked Questions at the Writing Center

Q: Who can use the services of the Writing Center?

1. ANYONE from the Penn State Berks community can make an appointment to work with our tutors, and it is absolutely free! Our undergradaute peer tutors work with students, faculty, and staff. People from the community are also welcome to use the Writing Center but only on a drop-in basis.

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Q: What should I expect when I come to the Writing Center?

1. Every session is a little bit different depending on what you want to focus on, but sessions have a general pattern to them. You can often expect the following:

   • When you arrive, you'll be greeted by a peer tutor.
   • You'll work with the tutor to complete some paperwork about you (your name, major, course, etc).
   • The tutor will then geneally ask you about your goals in the session. You should come prepared to talk about what you want to work on. The tutor will follow your lead!
   • You may be asked to read your paper or parts of it aloud. This reading orients the tutor to your paper and helps you catch any proofreading errors you might have. Reading aloud can also be a good strategy for improving sentence structure and avoiding repetition.
   • The tutor will talk to you about your ideas. He/she will expect you to be a partner in the tutoring session. You're an expert on your work, so the tutors will learn from you!
   • At the end of the session, the tutor will ask you to summarize what happened in the session.
   • The tutor will ask you if you would like to send a conference summary to your instructor. This notification is, of course, optional. The conference summary will let your teacher know that you visited the Center and will include a brief description of what you worked on.
   • Finally, you'll be asked to complete a brief survey about your experience with the Writing Center.

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Q: Will a tutor edit my paper for me?

1. Our tutors are trained to teach you editing strategies. The tutor will not line-by-line edit your work, but he/she will spend time with you on a paragraph or two, teaching you strategies so you can learn how to do it yourself.
   

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Q: What should I bring with me?

1. You should come to your sessions with the following:

   • Your assignment prompt
   • Two copies of your paper (if you have started drafting)
   • Any resources that will help the tutor understand your work, such as secondary sources, primary texts, your textbook, class notes, etc
   • A winning attitude!

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Q: How often can I come to the Writing Center?

1. You can visit the Writing Center two times per week. We limit the number of times you can come to work with our tutors because we want to make sure you aren't relying on us too heavily! After all, we hope you'll learn strategies that you can use on your own.

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Q: What if I need to cancel an appointment?

1. If you need to cancel your appointment, go to berks.mywconline.com. 

   If you do not cancel before your appointment, you will be considered a no-show. If you have 3 no-shows over the course of the year, you will not be able to use the Writing Center for the rest of the year. We take no-shows very seriously, so please remember to cancel your appointment in advance!

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