Frequently Asked Questions

What assistance is offered?
What assistance is not provided?
What takes place during a consulting session?
How long is a typical session?
How can I schedule an appointment?
Where do I meet my consultant?
How do I prepare for my session?
How can I give feedback on my experience?
Can I get help on take-home exams or comprehensive exams?

What support is offered?
Writing Support Services offers assistance to Warner students in many areas of writing. Students are expected to take responsibility for choices about their own writing. We encourage students to take notes during consultation sessions. Among our services offered, we:

• Review your paper before a scheduled session and prepare questions other readers may ask.
• Answer your questions and respond to your concerns about your paper.
• Direct your attention to resources that might prove useful.
• Suggest strategies, offer encouragement, and provide information to help you move forward with your work.
• Help you set priorities based on your needs, identifying points of revision that are possible within a particular time frame.
• Help you clarify the point of a section or the whole paper by asking you questions and listening to your answers.
• Indicate patterns in your writing that you may wish to modify: organization of points, sentence patterns, word choice, tone, grammar, etc.

What support is not provided?
Although we try to meet many needs of Warner students, we cannot:

• Proofread or edit drafts of papers.
• Address every strength and weakness in the draft, or point out every error in sentence structure, grammar, or mechanics.
• Promise that your paper will be finished when you leave your consultation; in all likelihood you'll leave with work to do.
• Guarantee a one-to-one correlation between your consultation and better grades. Nor will we discuss grades during sessions.

What takes place during a consulting session?
A typical session will address one or more of the following concerns: focus, organization/structure, audience, transitions, paragraph unity, and grammar/syntax.

How long is a typical session?

• Sessions will be 50 minutes long, with an additional 5-10 minutes for wrap-up.
• For papers longer than 15 pages, you may want to make several appointments during your writing process.
• Each student may only schedule one consultation per day. Depending on demand, you may be restricted to two consulting sessions per week.

How can I schedule an appointment?
Appointments can be scheduled and cancelled using the online scheduling system. However, you may not cancel within 3 hours of your appointment time. Cancellations within 3 hours of your appointment are considered "no shows." Students who "no show" for 3 appointments during a semester will be blocked from appointments for the rest of the semester.

The earlier in the writing process you use the Writing Support Services, the more helpful the consultants can be. Keep in mind that scheduling an appointment for the day before a paper is due will most likely be more stressful than helpful. Please allow at least 3-4 days for revision between your appointment and the assignment due date.

Where do I meet my consultant?
Please meet your consultant in Dewey 2-110A.

How do I prepare for my session?
Twenty-four hours before your appointment, put the following in the Writing Support Services mailbox, located in the student lounge on the first floor of Dewey Hall:

• One copy of your paper, double spaced.
• The writing prompt or assignment question from the professor.
• A list of questions/comments to guide the session.

If you have not yet written a draft, instead please include a short description of your brainstorming strategies and assignment questions.

How can I give feedback on my experience?
After each session, your consultant will ask you to fill out a feedback form.

Can I get help on take-home exams or comprehensive exams?
If you have any questions about whether it is appropriate to get feedback from the Writing Support Services on take-home exams or comprehensive exams, ask your instructor/advisor before bringing in your paper.