Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

No. Walk-in students are always welcome; however, if you want to be sure that you can see a tutor, you should make an appointment in advance.

Visit the Writing Center front desk or call (714) 992-7153 between the hours of 9:00am - 7:00pm Monday through Thursday and 10:00am - 2:00pm on Fridays.

Tutoring sessions are 30 minutes long. Please arrive five minutes early to check in at the reception desk. Students who have been given authorization from the Disability Support Services office may book 60 minute sessions.

In order to accommodate as many students as possible, the Writing Center limits students to one appointment per day.

You may schedule appointments for the current week plus the following week.

If you are unable to keep your scheduled appointment, you should contact the Writing Center at (714) 992-7153 to cancel your appointment. This will allow the Writing Center staff to clear the appointment time for another student.

If you forget your appointment and do not notify the Writing Center, you will be marked as a "no show". At one minute past your scheduled appointment time, your appointment may be given away if another student is waiting. Excessive "no shows" may result in being permitted to use the Writing Center on a walk-in basis only.

Bring the assignment prompt from your instructor, a pen or pencil, a draft of your assignment if you have one, and any questions or concerns you may have. If you are using outside sources for your assignment, it is helpful to bring those as well.

When you arrive at the Writing Center, you should first check in at the reception desk. You will be shown where to sign in and how to scan in. You will be given a brief questionnaire to complete (the Writing Center Tutorial Record or "pink slip") and be directed to your tutor.

Typically during a tutoring session, the tutor will want to know what you are working on, what step you are at in the writing process, and the specific issues you would like to address. The tutor will usually ask you to read your paper out loud while he/she listens and reads silently along with you. After you finish reading your paper, the tutor will discuss it with you and help you address some of your concerns and any issues the tutor may notice. Issues may include development, organization, analysis, and patterns of errors.

Reading the essay, or portions of the essay, out loud is helpful to both the student and the tutor. Reading out loud often helps students find errors in their writing they may otherwise miss. While the student reads the essay, the tutor can focus on listening to the ideas of the essay in order to think of questions and comments to help the student. In addition, for ESL students, it is a chance to practice speaking English and to receive feedback on their pronunciation.

The Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service. The main role of the tutor is to help the student become a better writer through a dialogue of the ideas in the student's paper and through assisting in development, organization, and analysis of the essay. Even though tutors will not correct or edit a paper for you, they can help you develop the skills and strategies to locate and fix your own errors if you would like. Although the focus of a session is usually on a student's paper, the end goal is to improve the writer and not the paper.

The Writing Center does not notify faculty when their students have completed a tutoring session. You can give the Writing Center Tutorial Record ("pink slip") to your instructor if you wish. Writing Center tutors sign this sheet as verification of your attendance.

Yes. In addition to tutoring, the Writing Center offers writing workshops throughout the semester. These workshops cover a range of writing topics. The current semester's workshop schedule is available in the Writing Center or in the Workshops section of our web page.

The Writing Center also has computers you may use to work on any of your writing assignments. You may print in the Writing Center if you have a campus print account.