Writing Consultations

You can schedule 30-minute and 60-minute in-person appointments to discuss your writing. In-person appointments take place in Room 6-202 in the Library. Please arrive 5 minutes before your appointment time. 

Walk-in appointments are possible if a tutor has an opening in their schedule. To be certain you can access our support, schedule an appointment ahead of time.

You can schedule 30-minute and 60-minute online chat appointments to discuss your writing. Online chat appointments take place through our scheduling system and can be conducted via video and/or text chat. To begin your appointment, open your appointment 5 minute before its start time and click "Join Online Chat."

If you would prefer to receive feedback on your writing asynchronously, schedule a 60-minute appointment for Written Feedback and upload your writing and assignment guidelines. A tutor will comment on your writing, and you will receive the feedback via email at the end of the appointment. You can submit drafts-in-progress as well as completed drafts. 

When making a Written Feedback appointment, you can request that the tutor focus on a specific section of your writing. Otherwise, the tutor will progress through your document until the appointment is over, which may or may not take them to the end of the document. If you would like further feedback, you are welcome to resubmit the document.

Drop-in hours are offered in the Fall and Winter Terms. During drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment—just show up and chat with a tutor! These hours are great for asking quick citation questions, troubleshooting word processors, and getting some writing done in a supportive environment. 

Drop-in hours are posted on our calendar.

If you're pursuing further education (graduate or professional school) or applying for a graduate-level scholarship or grant, you may wish to speak with someone who has experience writing such applications. If that describes you, you can schedule a 60-minute appointment with a member of the Writing Centre's professional, full-time staff through this form.

By registering for an account at the Writing Centre, I agree that:

1. I am responsible for making my own revisions. Writing Tutors will not write, alter, or correct my work.
    
2. A Writing Tutor will not consult with me on writing for a class we're both currently taking. Appointments may be re-assigned because of, but not limited to, this reason.
    
3. Writing Tutors will only discuss or provide feedback on the writing of the student who scheduled the appointment, or, in the case of group authorship, of the writers who are present at the appointment.
    
4. Writing Tutors will not estimate or speculate about grades, discuss the fairness of a specific grade, or comment on an instructor's grading approach.
    
5. Appointments are subject to daily and weekly limits, which may vary by term.
    
6. Exceptions to daily and weekly limits may be granted on a case-by-case basis. If I want to request an exception, I will contact the coordinator, Sarah Davidson, via writingcentre@macewan.ca
    
7. After each appointment, the Writing Tutor will complete an Appointment Summary, which will be emailed to me shortly after the appointment or by the Writing Centre's closing time that day.
    
8. Cancellations: I may cancel an appointment with no penalty provided that I cancel at least one (1) hour before the scheduled start time.
    
9. No-Shows: I may be up to 15 minutes late to a scheduled appointment without penalty. There is no guarantee that the appointment end time will be adjusted to make up for the lost time. If I am late by 15 minutes or more without notice, I will be considered a no-show, and my appointment will be cancelled.
    
10. If I cancel an appointment without sufficient notice or fail to attend an appointment twice in one term, I will lose access to the Writing Centre scheduling system, and any future appointments will be cancelled. To regain access, I will contact the coordinator, Sarah Davidson, via writingcentre@macewan.ca
     
11. In all interactions with the Writing Centre, I must uphold the Student Code of Conduct, including "adhering to the standards of Academic Integrity as outlined in the Student Academic Integrity Policy."
     
12. If I engage in behaviour that violates the Student Code of Conduct, such as harassing Writing Tutors, I may lose access to the Writing Centre and be reported to the Office of Student Conduct.

We have identified four principles and accompanying behavioural standards to help writers and tutors create a welcoming environment focused on MacEwan student writing.

Student led: Value the nature of peer-to-peer tutoring

For writers: 

• Advocate for your needs and priorities
• Take responsibility for the content of your writing

For tutors:

• Address the writer's priorities and concerns
• Consider the writer the authority on their own work

Conversational: Engage in respectful dialogue and mind the purpose of the space by speaking at a reasonable volume

For writers: 

• Ask and answer questions, talk through your ideas, and explain your process honestly
• Be open to feedback and other perspectives on your writing

For tutors: 

• Ask and answer questions, present options, and make suggestions
• Avoid telling the writer what to write or directly changing their work

Individualized: Reject labels like "good writers" and "bad writers" and embrace writing as a process

For writers:

• Be open to trying new strategies
• Make decisions about your own revisions

For tutors:

• Draw from a range of techniques and resources
• Adapt to the writer's process, purpose, and voice

Inclusive: Respect everyone's identities and strive for mutual understanding

For writers:

• Speak and write in the voice, register, and accent that works for you
• Be open to working with different tutors

For tutors:

• Welcome modes of expression beyond academic English
• Model conscious and culturally sensitive language use