Chemeketa Writing Center FAQs

Quick Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the CWC!

General | On-Campus Writing Consultations | Online Writing Consultations

General Information

Chemeketa Writing Center Hours:  Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the regular academic year.  We will open for Summer Term on June 30, 2008.  Summer hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

CWC Location:  As of Summer Term 2008, the Chemeketa Writing Center will be located in the Chemeketa Library, upstairs in Building 9!  Please come to see us in our new location there. 

Appointments:  We strongly recommend appointments; please call 503 399-7179 or stop by in the library in Building 9.

Registration:  To use the CWC, students must register for a FREE course.

On-Campus Writing Consultations

Staff:  Writing consultations at the Chemeketa Writing Center on campus are conducted by Chemeketa teaching faculty.  If you would like to work with a particular instructor, you can sign up with that person when you make an appointment.

Writing Consultations:  Each 30-minute appointment emphasizes teaching writing according to your needs.  We will work on any aspect of a writing project from brainstorming to drafting, revising, or editing. Generally the session will be focused on one or two key issues, such as generating ideas, revising a thesis, organization, or grammar concerns.  Instructors will ask if you have something you want to focus on and help you recognize your writing strengths as well as areas to develop further. In addition, the instructor may suggest writing resources that will help as you continue work on your writing project.

How to Prepare for a CWC Appointment: 

• Bring a copy of your assignment
  
• Know what you want to focus on
  
• Bring your draft, if you have one (it isn't necessary to have one) and your instructor's comments, if you have them.
  
• Schedule your CWC at least a day or two before your assignment is due

Online Writing Consultations

Chemeketa Online Writing Center Access:  To use the Chemeketa Online Writing Center, follow these steps:

Step 1:  Register for the writing center by logging on to My Chemeketa and adding CRN#14652. This is a FREE course. (To register for a course on My Chemeketa, log in to My Chemeketa, then click on School Services, then Student and Financial Aid menu, then Registration and Schedule menu, then Add/Drop Courses. Choose Summer Term 2008, fill in CRN #14652, and "submit changes" and you are done.)

Step 2:  Click on the My Courses tab. You will see the Writing Center Online listed. Click on the link and you will be in the Online College Writing Center. (If for any reason the link doesn’t open, go to http://elearn.chemeketa.edu and log in from there.

How to Use the Online College Writing Center:

Once you reach the Online College Writing Center, follow these steps to submit your work:

1. Click on “My Submissions” on the course homepage.   This accesses a private journal discussion that only you, the teaching assistants, and the coordinator of the Chemeketa Online Writing Center can see.
2. Click on "Create New Entry" and type a brief description of what you are working on, what the assignment asks for, and what you would like help with. Cut and paste or attach your work (as a Word or rtf document) to this message.
3. Then return to the Online College Writing Center in 24-48 hours and go back to “My Submissions,” where you will find a teaching assistant's comments on your work.
4. Click on "Writing Consultation Evaluation" from the course homepage and complete an evaluation of your session after each time you submit to the Chemeketa Online Writing Center.

Staff:  Online writing consultations are conducted by Writing Center faculty and teaching assistants.

Online Writing Consultations:  Online consultations can help you with short papers or short portions of longer assignments. The writing consultant can respond to work that is brief enough to be read in about 5-10 minutes. For example, you might submit a thesis statement, a paragraph, an introduction, conclusion, short paper outline, or some other small portion of a paper for feedback from a tutor. Though tutors do not edit work, they instruct with the goal of helping you read your own work critically. They provide instructional feedback and often also suggest supplemental materials.

How to Prepare for an Online Writing Center consultation:

• Indicate which class you are in and what assignment you are working on.
  
• Submit work that can be easily read in about 5-10 minutes.
  
• Inform the consultant about what you want him or her to focus on in the work you have posted. Please preface your work with a brief note about your writing concerns in the passage you've posted. For example, if you are concerned with the clarity of your introduction, you might ask the reader to focus on that. If you are concerned with sentence structure, or paragraph development, or documentation, or phrasing of thesis, or clarity of ideas and discussion, let the tutor know.
  
• Post your work in time for you to use the feedback. It may take 24-48 hours for you to receive feedback from a consultant, so factor that response time into how much time you will need to revise before the assignment's due date.

Updated October 2006 by the College Advancement Department/updated 2007 by CWC.