For Students

Our center serves CSULB students throughout their academic journey at The Beach. Students must be currently enrolled at CSULB in order to receive writing support from the University Writing Center, as Beach Connect requires your campus ID to book an appointment.  

Students from all class standings are welcome to use our services, from undergraduate students to those in graduate programs or specialty certifications on campus. Our center is well-versed in diverse writing practices across disciplines, and our staff receive ongoing training to stay up to date on a variety of writing practices.  

For more information about appointment details, please visit the Appointments tab. 

The UWC offers the following services free of charge to currently enrolled CSULB students:

  • 45-minute one-on-one writing consultations
  • Small-group writing consultations for 2-4 students from the same class working on the same assignment. NOTE: These sessions must be arranged in advance
  • Workshops on key writing concerns

After you check in, your writing tutor will talk with you about your goals for the session and what you hope to accomplish by the end of the 45-minutes. Together, you will discuss how best to approach your writing assignment and meet your goals, be they to develop a strong argument or to make your writing clearer. The writing tutor will offer advice and support, but will not write or edit the paper for you. Rather, they will help you to become a better writer, one who can write clearly and effectively independently. By the end of the session, you will have developed a set of specific action items that you can implement to improve the quality of your paper. Before you leave, you will be asked to complete a session summary and a session feedback survey.

Writing tutors in the writing center are undergraduate and graduate students at CSULB who are interested in helping students become better writers. They are excellent writers themselves and many are preparing for careers in teaching. All of our consultants are well-trained and are required to maintain and update their skills through ongoing professional development.

All students are welcome to visit the writing center (in-person or online) to receive writing support. However, if you’re unsure if the writing center is the right resource for you, here are some stages of the writing process to consider:  

Brainstorming & Pre-Writing: 

Work with a tutor before you dive into an assignment or project. Our team will collaborate with you to assist with the initial brainstorming and pre-writing stage of the writing process to help you get ideas on the page. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any prompt, questions, or materials that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation.

 

Drafting & Development: 

Whether you’re experiencing writer’s block or struggling with organization, our tutors can assist you with the drafting and development stage of a project. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any prompt, questions, materials, or existing writing that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation. 

 

Revision & Refinement:

If you have a draft, but you’re unsure how to progress your work, our tutors can assist you with the revision process to help refine your ideas and the project. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any draft, prompt, questions, materials, or existing writing that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation.  

 

Proofreading & Polishing 

Beyond your completed project, our tutors can assist you with your final proofreading efforts to polish an assignment or project before submission. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any completed writing, prompt, questions, or materials that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation.

 

Formatting & Citations: 

For questions about formatting a project and incorporating correct citations into your work, our tutors can assist you with various style guides and offer additional resources for support. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any writing, questions, or materials that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation.  

 

Re-Writes & Instructor Comments: 

For assignments or projects that need to be re-written, or for instructor comments that need to be addressed in your writing, our tutors can assist you through the next steps to proceed. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring the assignment or project, in addition to any written feedback or comments that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation. 

 

Research:

For any help with research, finding academic articles, or assistance navigating the CSULB library database, our tutors can guide you through the process and offer additional resources for support. For this style of appointment, we advise students to bring any prompt, questions, or materials that can help you and your tutor kickstart the conversation. 

 

If you’re seeking support for any style or genre of writing, including academic, non-academic, creative, professional, and short-form writing, our tutors can assist you.

In Person

In-person on-campus consultation appointments are located in SSSC-245, the second floor of the Shakarian Student Success Center. Please refer to the linked campus map for help locating us.

Students are recommended to wear face masks at their in-person appointments.

We recommend that students have the writing assignment or prompt on hand as well as all the writing/thinking/notes that they have done thus far.

We also recommend e-versions of these materials on OneDrive, Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online, or on a USB drive. Students can use our computer lab desktops during the consultations or bring a device to use.

Zoom

After students make an appointment, they will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link.

We recommend that students have the writing assignment or prompt on hand as well as all the writing/thinking/notes that they have done thus far.

Students will need to share these materials with tutor through Zoom screen sharing, Google Docs, or OneDrive. (Papers cannot be emailed directly to tutors.)

Become familiar with sharing features of Zoom and Google Docs below.

Read about what our students have to say about us... 

They told me the root of the problem and so I can understand on how to fix those problems after going over with them. Overall I think my writing improved.

I've had several sessions at the Writing Center throughout both semesters of my freshman year. The one on one feedback on all my papers and essays have helped me become a stronger writer for my assignments. The tutors I've had were very helpful and I'll definitely continue going to the Writing Center throughout the rest of my time at CSULB