Learning Commons:Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication/Description

Information about the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication

The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication is a free service here to support all writers at UBC, from first-year to graduate students. We work with all kinds of academic writing, from lab reports to literature essays. If you don't have a piece of writing yet, come talk to us anyway - we are happy to provide a sounding board for your ideas, advice on writing processes, and resources that you can use on your own time.

We offer the following:

one-on-one appointments, in person or online; book now at WCOnline. Appointments are 25 minutes long, and you can book up to 2 appointments per week on separate days. (Graduate students, you can book 50-minute sessions using the Graduate Students calendar from September-April; otherwise use the main calendar.) Please note that if you wish to cancel your appointment, you must do so through the WCOnline system 24 hours in advance! We cannot process cancellations over the phone or email.
workshops for undergraduate and graduate students. We now have weekly LPI workshops available. For more information on these and other workshops, go to WCOnline and choose the Workshops calendar from the drop-down menu.
writing communities for undergraduate and graduate students.
Express Lane hours (3-4pm from September-April), where students can stop by for a quick 10-minute chat about common issues such as citation, punctuation, and questions about grammar.

Questions? Email us at cwsc.info@ubc.ca.

For Graduate Students

We have a special calendar for graduate students, with 50-minute appointments that must be booked and cancelled 24 hours ahead of time. All of our graduate writing consultants are either currently in, or have completed, a research-based graduate degree. You can access the calendar through WCOnline; choose the Graduate Students calendar from the drop-down menu on the landing page.

We offer a multi-disciplinary writing community Tuesdays from 1-3pm in Koerner 153. For more information or to register, click here.

Don't see what you're looking for? Email us at cwsc.info@ubc.ca.

For Multilingual and International Students

If you have questions about writing in English and in the Canadian university context, we can help! Bring us your writing questions and concerns, and we will give you feedback on your work, share resources, and offer referrals to other campus services that would be useful to you.

If you are preparing for the LPI, we have resource guides that you can look through, writing consultants who can support you as you prepare, and workshops designed for students taking the LPI for the first or second time. To register for a workshop, go to WCOnline and choose the Workshops calendar from the drop-down menu on the landing page.

We also offer a chance to practice your English in our informal conversation groups, Tuesdays from 2:30-3:30pm. Drop in or register using our main calendar at WCOnline.

Preparing for Your Appointment

If you want to have a one-on-one consultation with one of our peers, here are some tips for making the most of your time:

Plan ahead! A consultation isn’t very useful if your project is due an hour later. Please book your appointment at least 24 hours ahead of time; you can book up to 10 days in advance.
No appointment? Check the schedule for a cancellation or open space, as we are happy to work with walk-ins. Please know that we see walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis.
Have questions! The appointment form in our online system will ask for some information, including your primary focus for the session. The more specific you can be, the better.
Want help setting some writing goals? Ask your consultant about a learning plan. Please know that your consultant may recommend a learning plan if you are working on a big project or if the questions and goals you bring to an appointment would be best addressed over a longer period of time.
Make time! Even though we are centrally located, it may take longer than you expect to walk to IKBLC. We have a comfortable waiting area if you are early, and we may have to give your appointment away if you are late (depending on the demand for walk-in appointments).
Do you just have a quick question? Come by our Express Lane between 3-4pm for an equally quick answer.
Come prepared! If you want to focus on a specific assignment or piece of writing, bring your assignment guidelines and any work you may have already done. Even if you don’t have a specific piece of writing to work on, coming prepared to talk about the kind(s) of writing you do regularly and the kind of writer you would like to be will help your consultant to be a better collaborator.
Already confident in your writing? Awesome! Come see us anyway to bounce around ideas for projects, continue to shape your writing process and practice, and create a new set of goals to meet.

Defining Terms Used at the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication

Proofreading/Editing

To us, proofreading means that consultants go through a piece of writing and correct all of the errors in grammar, mechanics, and spelling. We do not provide this service, but we do offer something better: a consultant to look over your paper with you and teach you what to look for and how to find and correct individual errors and patterns of error in your own writing. We are happy to provide support for proofreading, but we cannot complete the proofreading itself.

To us, editing means that consultants go through a piece of writing and rewrite it as needed to ensure clarity, development, strong organization, and other higher order concerns. Again, we do not provide this service, but we do provide feedback as careful readers. We also work with you as you develop a revision process that works for you and offer support in navigating disciplinary and genre requirements.

Grammar

The number one request we get is for help with grammar. Since grammar refers to the entire set of rules that govern how language is used, this is a huge category. We can certainly help with grammar, but you will make the most out of your time with a consultant if you can be more specific with your request. For example, if a professor or TA has mentioned something specific they recommend you work on (e.g. verb tense or sentence structure), include that in your appointment request. If you don’t know exactly what you would like to work on but you know that your writing doesn’t “feel” right, taking some time to reflect on what isn’t working for you would help make your session as effective as possible. Want help pinpointing and articulating what isn’t quite working for you? No problem! Just let us know in your appointment report form, and we’ll start from there..

Consulting

This is a new term for writing support at UBC – in the past, the peers in this service have had the title of “tutors”. We feel that changing to “consultant” better reflects what the peers actually do in their time with you. Consultants are there to have a conversation about writing – your writing, in fact. They can offer guidance and feedback, serve as sounding boards for your ideas, answer questions and direct you to resources, and share their experience as peers, writers, and UBC students. We don’t assume that you are coming in with writing that needs to be fixed, and we don’t assume that you lack expertise, especially in your field. We’re here for a collaborative learning experience that is focused on your needs, whatever those may be.