When you visit the Writing Center, the tutor will ask you for some information about yourself (name, major, student ID) and about the assignment you are working on. The tutor will record some of the information on a tutoring record form. These forms serve three purposes: they supply important statistics about Writing Center use, statistics the staff needs to demonstrate budget and staffing needs; they help tutors to verify that students whose professors have required they visit the Writing Center have fulfilled the requirement; they keep the coordinator apprised of tutors' work.

After you complete the tutoring record form, the tutor will ask you about the kind of help you think you need with the paper. If you brought a copy of the assignment with you, the tutor will ask to see it. If you brought a draft of the paper with you, the tutor will ask you to read all or parts of it aloud. As you read, the tutor will likely take notes on such features as focus, idea development, and arrangement. The tutor will use these notes to respond to and to raise questions about your paper. It is not unusual for the tutor and the student to discover avenues for approaching or improving the paper which are different from the kind of help the student initially requested.

When appropriate, the tutor might also point out problems with mechanics and usage. The tutor will not "fix" errors in your paper, but will certainly help you learn to identify and correct errors in usage and mechanics. This learning takes time and commitment, and tutors can often recommend proofreading strategies and reference materials to help support your learning.

When other students are waiting to confer with a tutor, your conference may be limited to twenty or thirty minutes. At the end of the conference, the tutor will ask you to complete an anonymous evaluation form and to deposit it in the drop box. Your evaluations help us to improve our service.