Writing Center Tutoring
The Writing Center offers one-on-one tutoring to help you at every stage of the writing
process. Whether you are just getting started, in the middle of your paper, or almost
ready to submit your final draft, we provide no-cost writing support for undergraduate
and graduate students. Appointments can be made for sessions that are in person with
safe social distancing measures or online through Blackboard Collaborate.
To make your appointment, click here to access the schedule.
For instructions on how to schedule an appointment, click here to view a short video.
What to Expect at Your Tutoring Session
- Your tutoring session will last for approximately 30 minutes.
- If your paper is long (5 or more pages), you may need to schedule more than one appointment.
Tutors can only look at one assignment per tutoring session.
- You and the tutor will begin by discussing your assignment - even if you haven't started
writing it yet (if you have the instructions or rubric, showing that to the tutor
is helpful). The tutor may work with you on all of your paper or just part. You will
get feedback and suggestions.
- The tutor will not edit your paper, as their job is to help you learn to be a better
writer. They'll give you tips about finding and fixing your own errors.
- If your professor has asked you to provide proof that you received tutoring in the
Writing Center, you can ask the tutor to send you a confirmation email that you can
then share with your professor.
Blackboard Collaborate Instructions
To set up an online appointment with the Writing Center via Blackboard Collaborate:
- Use this link to schedule your appointment: madonna.mywconline.com
- Email your draft to writingcenter@madonna.edu at least one hour before the appointment. Make sure to send your draft as an attachment
from your @my.madonna.edu student email.
- The Writing Center will email you back with a link to your online tutoring session.
- Click on the link to connect at your appointment time. The first time you use Collaborate,
you may want to join the session a few minutes early so that you can familiarize yourself
with the various Collaborate features.
- You and your tutor should be able to see each other via Collaborate at the appointed
time. If you don’t, check the camera icon at the bottom of the window. If there’s
a diagonal bar across it, click the camera icon to activate the camera view.
- Make sure there’s no diagonal bar across the microphone icon (also at the bottom),
too, so that the tutor can hear you.
- If you prefer to type back and forth to the tutor, use the chat feature on the right-hand
panel (you may need to click on the purple arrow at the bottom of the screen to open
this panel).
- Exit the session by clicking on the small picture icon at the bottom of the screen
and selecting “Leave session.”
