Writing Center
email: writing@nd.edu
Dedicated Tutors
The Writing Center at the University of Notre Dame is dedicated to helping students become better writers. Our tutors accomplish this goal by listening attentively in writing conferences, reading papers carefully, and asking questions that can help writers better express their ideas and construct their arguments.
Writing Center tutors work with writers during all stages of the writing process — from understanding an assignment and developing a thesis to organizing the paper and revising the final product.
Who can use the Writing Center?
We work with all students, first-years to seniors, undergraduates and graduates, and native and non-native English speakers. We see students from virtually all disciplines and colleges within the University.
We also work with Fulbright and Rhodes Scholar candidates, law and medical school applicants, students writing senior theses, and scholars preparing articles for publication. In short, we serve both inexperienced and experienced student writers, offering an audience for and response to their written work.
At our Main Writing Center Office, our undergraduate and graduate tutors meet with writers from a wide range of backgrounds working on projects at any stage of the writing process.
The Presenter Center offers the opportunity to meet with a tutor in order to workshop and discuss presentation projects, whether for a class, a conference, a job talk, or beyond.
Our remote appointments are helpful for students and researchers studying or working abroad or away from campus as well as those who simply prefer to discuss writing from the comfort of their own home (or office, or coffee shop).
At our Legal Writing Center, graduate students and researchers are invited to make appointments with tutors prepared to work with writing projects specialized in the field of law.
Our Physics Research Writing Consultant offers tutoring sessions for graduate students and other researchers working on physics writing projects.
Make an appointment
Make an appointment at any of our Writing Center locations through our online scheduler. Please note that we often have high demand, so it will be in your best interest to schedule early. You can access the waitlist by clicking on the clock to the left of the date on the online scheduler or by using the "WAITING LIST" link found in the bottom right-hand corner of each day's schedule.
Writing Center instruction conforms to the University of Notre Dame honor code. Tutors do not write or edit papers for students. Instead, we help students acquire writing and editing strategies to achieve their own goals as writers.
What happens during a Writing Center appointment?
Writing Center tutors work to engage in authentic dialogue with student writers, meeting them wherever they happen to be in the writing process to provide thoughtful feedback about their writing projects.
When a student writer or presenter comes into one of our Writing Center locations, the tutor greets the writer and starts a conversation about the assignment, working to identify the writer's concerns and needs before examining any notes or draft material brought to the session. The tutor and the writer decide on a game plan for the session, setting goals about what might reasonably be addressed during the 45-minute session and establishing a plan for how to accomplish those goals.
If the writer has brought a draft, the tutor will ask him/her to read the draft aloud while both the tutor and the writer make notes. The tutor will seek to identify both strengths and weaknesses in the draft. The conversation that follows the reading of the draft is guided by the tutor, who asks questions to help the writer identify for themselves the most pressing needs for revision. As the conversation progresses, the tutor helps the writer to discover strategies for revision that will help address the writer's concerns and needs.
At the end of the session, the tutor will help the student identify a concrete set of steps to take next in the revision process. After the writer leaves, the tutor will write a Tutor Note, a brief report recording what was addressed and accomplished during the session.