The AUS Writing Lab offers fully online, synchronous writing consultations. Please click the “Make a Writing Lab Appointment” button to schedule your online consultation.
Make a Writing Lab Appointment

You can also make an appointment by contacting the Writing Lab at:

Phone: 206.268.4416
E-mail: [email protected]
Location: 3rd floor, Library/CTL, room 324

Schedule Your Writing Assessment

 

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Summer 2020 Hours
(all times in Pacific time zone, Seattle/Los Angeles)

Monday: 11:30 am—6:00 pm
Tuesday: 10:30 am—6:00 pm
Wednesday: 11:30 am—6:00 pm
Thursday: 10:30 am—6:00 pm
Friday: 1:30 pm—5:00 pm

The Writing Lab is a dedicated learner-centered collaborative space available to all Antioch students. No matter where you are on your academic journey, the Writing Lab can support you in taking your next step for development and success. Workshops, one-on-one, and group sessions are available in half-hour and one-hour segments. We offer both scheduled appointments and walk-in hours.

What we do:

  • We help students set goals for their session
  • We help students find a process or plan that suits them
  • We ask questions, listen, brainstorm, and strategize
  • We nurture a positive culture of learning and reflecting
  • We recognize that the struggle to translate thoughts and feelings into words is universal

What we don’t do:

  • We do not tell, fix, judge, or shame
  • Although we assist with revision decisions, we do not function  as an editing service
  • Although we assist with research-related skills, we do not conduct research

Services

Writing Lab peer consultants can assist with:

  • Writing—whether academic, creative, or professional
  • Critical reading
  • English language learning
  • Test-taking skills
  • Time management and study skills
  • Resumes and cover letters

Procedures

  • Session Length: Sessions may be scheduled for 30 or 50 minutes. Ten minutes are used to collect your feedback. You may schedule up to two 50-minute sessions (or the equivalent) per week.
  • Walk-in Sessions: You may attend walk-in hours as often as needed. Please understand that multiple students may be served during walk-in hours and that writing assistants may be helping multiple students at the same time.
  • What to Expect: When you come to the Writing Lab, expect to engage in a conversation about your writing or other skills.
  • Cancellations: If you need to cancel, please do so at least 24 hours in advance.
  • No-shows: Please come on time to scheduled appointments. After one no-show, you will be sent an e-mail. After two no-shows, you will need to use walk-in hours for the remainder of the quarter.
  • Special Needs: If you have special circumstances that will affect your session, please let the Writing Lab know ahead of time and we will work to accommodate your needs.
  • Behavioral Expectations: Students are expected to follow the school’s Code of Conduct. Any student who interferes with the orderly conduct of work in the lab or who intimidates any lab staff member will be reported to the Dean and lose lab privileges.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make an appointment?

You can use AUS Writing Lab’s online registration & scheduling system! The system lets you access our availability up to three weeks in advance. Reserve peer tutoring sessions in 30-minute blocks. Please reserve 30 minutes for brainstorming and planning sessions, 60 minutes for a full draft consultation, 90 minutes for projects that are longer than a term paper and/or if you have requested accommodations. If you haven’t used the system before, click on the registration link to the left to create an account, then log in to make appointments.

Reserve a tutoring session

You can also visit us in the Library, room 324, call us at 206-268-4416, or e-mail us at [email protected].

Drop-in services are also available on a first-come, first-served basis; just stop by the library, and see if a tutor is free.

When you schedule an appointment, please provide us with your information:

  • Your first and last name
  • What program you are in
  • A phone number where you can be reached
  • A brief description of what you need assistance with

What can I expect when I visit the Writing Lab?

Expect to participate actively in your session. Consultations at the Writing Lab are interactive and lead you in doing the work yourself. Be prepared to take notes, construct outlines, revise paragraphs, try new sentence patterns, debate your ideas, or just think out loud. The staff is familiar with many approaches to writing and many resources that enhance learning.

Does the Writing Lab provide editing or proofreading services?

The Writing Lab staff will not write, proofread, correct, or edit your paper for you. Instead, the staff will review your assignment and paper with you to discover any problems you might be having, and then teach you how to address those problems yourself. The Writing Lab is here to help you develop your skills so you can tackle the content and assignments you have problems with more effectively.

When should I seek help at the Writing Lab?

Don’t wait until you are overwhelmed by an assignment. Make appointments early and often. We can help with assignments at any stage in the process: from planning to drafting to revising.  You will learn the most if you make your first appointment during the first week or two of classes and continue to schedule sessions throughout the term.

What should I bring to my appointment?

Bring all necessary course materials, your calendar for scheduling new appointments, and your laptop if you wish. You should also bring any work you’ve done on the assignment so far.

  • Come prepared with thoughts about comments and suggestions that have been made on other papers that you’ve written. You can significantly cut down your writing and revising workload and can use your session time more efficiently by getting a handle on your instructor’s comments.
  • Come prepared with thoughts about the assignment or a list of some of the characteristics that your paper should have in order to meet the goals of the assignment.
  • Come prepared with an outline of what you’ve written so far. Outlining is a good way of rethinking the overall organization of your paper.
  • Come prepared with marked sections of your draft that you’re unsure of and would like to concentrate on. Write down your questions. If you can pinpoint specific sections or sentences in your draft, you won’t have to wait for the consultant to find them.

Remember, it’s OK if you haven’t actually written anything. Bring your ideas or your questions. The Writing Lab can help you at any point in the process of writing.

How should I prepare for my appointment?

Make sure that you have read class materials before coming to your appointment. Attend class and do the readings. Peer consulting cannot substitute for classes not attended or readings not completed.

  • If meeting to discuss long-term peer consulting, bring a course syllabus, assignments, texts, and class notes with you to the first session and think about what kinds of questions you have about the material or assignments.
  • If meeting to discuss a specific assignment, bring the assignment and all other relevant materials—including your text, your class notes, and any pre-writing—to your appointment.

You should also set goals for the session. Tell the consultant exactly what your needs are at the beginning of a session. Think about what kind of help you really want; for example, do you have tons of ideas but no idea how to arrange them, or do you want to develop ideas that are already pretty well-organized? If you set a rough agenda of items to cover in the session, then you can be sure to get the most out of your time in the Writing Lab.

What can I do if I am not satisfied with the Writing Lab services?

Expect that the Writing Lab’s staff will be available during published drop-in hours and for scheduled appointments, arrive on time, and conduct sessions professionally. Be open and honest with us when we are not meeting your needs. If you are dissatisfied for any reason with your session, or if you have any concerns about the quality of the consultation, then please fill out a yellow Student Feedback form or speak with Hidy Basta, coordinator of the Writing Lab, at any time.

Man speaking in front of APA style Guidelines slide show

Resources

Formatting and Citation

American Psychological Association (APA) format
Find information on APA style and format with examples, provided by the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. For the definitive guide to APA format, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition. The Writing Lab has a copy available for reference.

APA “Citation Machine”
A web-based method that requires only simple input about your sources to help you format citations in your paper and on the Reference page. Sponsored by the Landmark Project.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
Locate information on MLA style and format, with examples, provided by the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

MLA “Citation Machine”
A web-based method that requires only simple input about your sources to help you format citations in your paper and on the Reference page. Sponsored by the Landmark Project.

English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Learners (ELL)

Resource pages and exercises can be found at the following sites:

Essay Structure

“How is an essay structured?”

This is a great site that shows the basic structure of an essay.

Grammar and Style

Grammar and Syntax resources
Resource pages and exercises provided by the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

View Elements of Style
The ultimate source for many generations, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is found here in an online version provided by Bartleby.

Research

Research and Research Papers
Handouts and exercises on research skills, resources, and the writing of research papers are provided by the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

Scheduling Your Writing Assessment

All writing assessments for applicants to the MA-Psychology program will be proctored online via Zoom, a free videoconferencing application. Please contact [email protected] to schedule your assessment or if you have any questions or concerns. You will receive further instructions once you are on our schedule.

Staff

Peer Consultants

Kalila Griffin started her writing career in Chicago in 2009, when she went to Columbia College to study Creative Writing. After two years, she returned to her hometown of Seattle and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Seattle University. She is currently in the Couple and Family Therapy program. She loves working with students to find their literary voice and really enjoys brainstorming ideas!


Madeline Schmitt is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) with Drama Therapy student who started classes at AUS in Fall 2018. She graduated from the University of South Dakota with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.F.A. in Theatre. During her undergraduate career, she worked for four years at her school’s writing center. While she prefers writing academic research papers, Madeline loves exploring various forms of writing topics and self-expression. Madeline is also knowledgeable with APA formatting, Microsoft Word, and overall organization.


Kate Shelton is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) and Drama Therapy student. Her undergraduate background focused on neuro-cognitive psychology, women’s and gender studies, and adolescent development. She is passionate about one day working with teens in a theatrical setting. As a writer, Kate is particularly proficient with English grammar and structure, storytelling techniques, and supporting non-native English speakers. She loves to make others laugh and strives to find the fun in academic writing!


Lara Vander Woude is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) student with a passion for working with young children. In addition to play therapy, she’s fascinated by psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and existential theories. In a similar delight in the confluence of play and depth, she fell in love with poetry as a teenager and has been writing (and reading) poems ever since. In the Writing Lab, she loves witnessing how different minds organize, shape, and express ideas, and is game to collaborate with you at any step of the process.


Karyn headshot

Karyn Wittmeyer is a CMHC graduate student looking to start her internship in early 2019. For the last 20 years she has been exploring various topics and herself through writing, in everything from narrative blog posts to research papers. She delights in a focused paper that is concise and clearly gets its point across. Karyn can also help you with research techniques, APA formatting, and general Microsoft Word skills.


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