TCC’s writing centers help students improve their grades by teaching them a variety of success skills.
Shawn Stewart, senior fellow at Learning Commons and a former English professor at TCC, said students can do this by visiting the writing center.
“It’s no boast when I say that we can easily help you get at least 10 to 20 points on a paper,” Stewart said, “and that’s one to two marks if you deduct one point for each mistake, as I do.”
The first step is admitting that you may need help and that you can improve, says Decha Cullen, a Learning Commons staff member and TCC graduate.
“Education is about rewiring a person’s brain so they can think bigger, challenge themselves harder and keep going,” she said.
Kathleen Rice, senior Learning Commons staff member, said writing tutors work with all types of people and with a wide range of abilities.
“No matter what level they come in at, we can meet them at that level,” she said.
The writing center doesn’t just help with essays, says Gail Williams, a staff member of the Senior Learning Commons. It also helps students write scholarship essays, resumes, cover letters and speeches.
Williams said she was recently able to help a student write her first resume and that it gave the student a sense of achievement.
“It makes me feel good when they are doing well and feel like they have accomplished something,” Williams said.
She said many nursing students come to her for help with their cover letters and resumes.
“The students ask, ‘Are you here to help us?’ And we say, ‘Yes, that’s our job,'” Williams said.
While tutors help with many things, there are some things the Writing Center does not do for students.
“Come with some paper,” Williams said. “We’re not going to do the work for the students. It’s their work, so they have to be responsible for it,” she said.
Williams said her biggest fear about using AI is that students will use it improperly and that this could negatively impact them.
“It prevents students from developing their own thoughts, skills and ideas,” she said.
Cullen said her intention was not to get a student in trouble.
“I want them to know that there is such a thing as plagiarism and what could happen to them if they get caught,” she said.
Students may be excluded from classes or expelled from TCC.
Cullen said students are not being taught the basic skills they need to use AI.
“It’s a shortcut that will hurt them in the long run,” she said.
Cullen said that in the past, the writing center has held workshops on music theory and how song lyrics have changed from the ’80s to today. She also said they have held workshops on poetry and film, hoping to add those back to the fall program.
Cullen said she would like to see more involvement from instructors.
“I wish more professors would make visiting the writing center part of their schedule,” Cullen said.
Rice hopes to raise awareness of the writing center’s resources.
“I wish there was a way to contact every professor and let them know we are here,” she said.
Many professors may not be aware that the Writing Center is available to all students.
“I wish there was a way to contact every professor and let them know we’re here,” Rice said.
Appointments are scheduled in 30-minute increments, Williams said.
“Sometimes students need more time, so we schedule two 30-minute appointments in a row,” she said.
The opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The writing center is closed on Sundays.
The Writing Center also offers live online appointments via Microsoft Teams.
