The Writer’s Center FAQs for Students

Document feedback is offered as a secondary type of session for students who are unavailable during our operating hours. To submit a draft for document feedback tutoring, choose “Document Feedback” from the drop-down menu after clicking “Make an Appointment.” You should attach your draft and your instructor’s assignment directions as Microsoft Word documents to your appointment form, and a tutor will download it and send it back to you via email with thorough comments on it. Document feedback tutoring can be scheduled in advance but must be scheduled no later than 11:00am the day of, and you must upload your document to save your appointment. Slots do not have a specific time frame assigned to them; tutors will complete all appointments no later than 7:00pm on your scheduled appointment day. 

We welcome all students currently enrolled in courses at Coastal Carolina Community College and students enrolled in other programs on Coastal’s campus. This includes the Coastal curriculum and Continuing Education students, as well as UNCW extension students and Onslow Early College High School students.

The Writer’s Center is located in room 225 on the second floor of the Learning Resources Center (LRC), which is in the center of campus.

We encourage you to visit the WC frequently throughout the semester at any stage of your writing process. However, you may only make one appointment per day. You may schedule a visit after your first appointment or come back for walk-in visits up to two more times after your original appointment if at least an hour has passed. This policy is designed to ensure that you work independently to revise your essay from the previous session before you return to the WC.

No. Writer’s Center tutors are not roving; they are scheduled for one-on-one sessions with individual students. When your tutoring session is complete, if you feel you need more help, we encourage you to use the computers available in the LRC and return to the WC after you have made more progress on your draft.

No. The Writer’s Center is a free resource.

Tutors will work with any kind of writing for any course—not just English courses—such as assigned essays and research papers.

Please bring a copy of your class assignment as well as any writing, including notes, preliminary thoughts, an outline of ideas, a first draft, or a polished later draft. Please also bring any relevant textbooks and/or outside sources that may be useful to refer to during the session. While we have a few desktop computers, you might want to bring your personal laptop to use during the session. We strongly encourage you to print at least one hard copy of your draft. It’s much easier to take notes on paper than on a laptop.

Tutors are only tutors when they are scheduled to work at the Writer’s Center. Their other work hours are dedicated to their own students, so please limit your interactions with them to their WC time. If you would like additional assistance, you may contact the WC to schedule another appointment.

Yes. Your instructor will receive an email notification that you have visited the Writer’s Center, including a brief description of what was covered in the session. Instructor notification emails are sent out at the end of the week.

Both. Making an appointment is strongly recommended. Walk-ins will be accepted, but appointments have priority over walk-ins.

If you have to miss an appointment, we would prefer that you cancel it through WCOnline or by calling the Writer’s Center; however, if you fail to notify us, then you may not schedule another session that day, but feel free to walk in that day, or you may make another appointment or walk in on any other day. An appointment is considered missed at 10 minutes after your scheduled appointment time, and you will be notified of all missed appointments via email. Three missed appointments in a semester will result in a suspension of Writer’s Center appointment privileges for the remainder of that semester, but you will still be allowed to walk in for sessions.

No. The Writer’s Center works with the whole writer, not just the writing itself. We are not an editing service. You must be willing to work one-on-one with the tutor to discuss your needs and goals as a writer.

All WC tutors are English faculty who are trained and experienced writing tutors.

No, with exceptions. The WC is a non-evaluative environment. For this reason, we strongly discourage students from specifically meeting with their instructors while the instructor is working as a tutor. You have access to your instructor during his/her office hours; moreover, it will be to your benefit to seek feedback from another qualified tutor. While it may sometimes be unavoidable to have your instructor as your tutor depending on availability, WC coordinators reserve the right to assign a different tutor during your appointment time if you are scheduled to meet with your own instructor.

Yes. While tutors are more experienced with MLA and APA documentation styles, they can help you with any documentation style that your instructor assigns.

No. While tutors are knowledgeable about the research process and may be able to help with certain research-related questions, sessions are not intended (nor are they long enough) to spend time gathering research for your essay or project. We encourage you to make an appointment with a research coach in the LRC for help with the research process.

Yes and no. Our tutors are not trained to help with computer issues or Word processing software questions; however, they are usually happy to assist you with basic questions if they feel comfortable doing so. If not, please contact Coastal Carolina’s Help Desk at (910) 938-6123 or helpdesk@coastalcarolina.edu.

No. WC tutors cannot and will not guarantee or estimate grades. However, with regular visits to the WC and your dedication to the writing process, there is no doubt that you will see improvement in your abilities as a writer.

Yes, if the tutor’s schedule permits, and barring any conflicts with WC procedures. When you make an appointment, tutors’ names are visible on the schedule, so you can select your tutor by name. If you don’t remember your tutor’s name, you can go back to the confirmation email from that appointment and the tutor’s name is included – or you are welcome to contact us and we can look it up for you.
However, The Writer’s Center administrators reserve the right to move your appointment to another tutor as needed in accordance with our policies (don’t worry, we will not change the time of your appointment). Therefore, if you would like to work with the specific tutor that you selected for your appointment, please let us know when you make the appointment by including your request in the appointment form under “What would you like to work on today?” and we will do our best to accommodate your request.