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Odegaard Writing & Research Center

Policies

Making Appointments

The following policies help to ensure that tutors will be available to you and others equally:

  • Regular weeks: 
    Outside of high-traffic periods, you may sign up for a maximum of 3 appointments per week. There is also a daily maximum of 2 appointments per day. Writers may not have two appointments back-to-back, even if the second appointment is with a different tutor.
  • High-Traffic weeks: 
    During exceptionally busy periods (finals, midterms, etc.), we may limit appointments to 1 per week to ensure as many people are able to get writing support as possible.
  • Missed Appointments: 
    If you miss (fail to show up for) 3 appointments in a single quarter, your account will be automatically deactivated and you will lose the ability to book appointments.
  • Timely Cancelations:
    If you must cancel an appointment, please do so promptly — at least 2 hours in advance.
    Appointments canceled later than this will count as missed appointments.
  • Late Arrival:
    If you do not arrive for your appointment within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time, your appointment will be automatically marked as missed and you will need to reschedule.
  • Drop-ins:
    We take drop-ins on a first-come, first-served basis when we have tutors available. We reserve the right to limit the number of drop-in appointments that one student can have on a given day.

Software has bugs. Life has glitches. If you feel we have made a mistake, or that you have missed an appointment due to special circumstances, please contact our center at owrc@uw.edu.

OWRC Space Usage

  • Please note that the OWRC is not a study space. Writers may arrive and be seated up to 15 minutes before the start of their appointment. If you arrive more than 15 minutes early for your appointment, you may be asked to come back closer to your appointment start time.
  • Writers may remain in the OWRC for up to 15 minutes after the end of their appointment, but may be politely asked to leave by staff if there is limited space.
  • Students without an appointment may not use the OWRC as a study space under any circumstances and are encouraged to sit elsewhere in Odegaard Library.

We understand that it can be difficult to find seating in the library during busy periods, but limiting use of OWRC space to only writers with appointments allows us to fulfill our mission of providing high-quality, conversation-based peer tutoring with minimal distractions.

Grammar and Proofreading in Tutoring Sessions

Proofreading is the process of going line-by-line, word-by-word, making changes for the writer in order to produce a document that is polished at the surface level. Traditionally in writing centers, such proofreading has been designed to promote “fluency” according to standards of academic English historically reproduced through white supremacy. At the OWRC, we do not proofread uncritically for such standards. Our policy is to provide support and reader feedback through conversation, negotiation of instructor and generic expectations, and attention to students’ intentional language choices, so that the writer may gradually come to develop a critical awareness of their own language choices; our job is not to define or fix errors for writers or force assimilation into particular academic literacies. Instead, we seek to be proactive about supporting students’ own writing negotiations and those negotiations’ relationships to power.

OWRC Accessibility Statement

We encourage students to contact the OWRC and discuss possible accommodations that can be made during a tutoring session. The OWRC is able to offer the following accommodations to writers:

  • Extra time in tutoring sessions to accommodate students who may need more time.
  • A semi-private (separate) room to conduct a tutoring session.

If you have any questions regarding center accommodations, please contact the OWRC by email at owrc@uw.edu

Fragrance-Free Environment

The OWRC is committed to providing a fragrance-free environment for all visitors to maintain a safe and healthy environment for all. The OWRC requests that all visitors limit fragrances in the center to support a fragrance-free environment.

Code of Conduct

The OWRC expects writers to be engaged and respectful of peers and all OWRC employees. The OWRC does not give out tutors’ personal information, and writers must schedule appointments through WC Online, not contact tutors directly. Uncooperative or disrespectful behavior towards staff will not be tolerated. OWRC staff reserve the right to end tutoring sessions early and refuse service. If a tutor is made to feel uncomfortable during a session, they will have the right to turn off the video, terminate the session, and/or report the writer to the university. Depending on the severity of the offense, visitors may have writing center privileges revoked in the OWRC. All OWRC visitors are expected to comply with all UW library policies.

Getting the Most from Your Session

Bring:

  • Materials related to the writing project you’re currently working on. Any drafts, notes, comments from earlier readers, the assignment prompt (if there is one), or source material (readings) you’re working with can help our tutors understand your writing situation. These may be hard copy (printed) or digital — we are happy to use either.
  • Your writing — or no writing. We can help at any stage. Bring what you have, but don’t be afraid to come even if you don’t have anything but questions.
  • Openness, flexibility, and energy. The writing session only works if you are an active participant. Be open and willing to talk through your ideas, goals, and difficulties!

Other Things to Know:

  • Book early and often. Leave yourself time to make changes. Appointments often fill up 2 weeks in advance.
  • For online tutoring appointments, it is highly recommended that you use a computer or tablet. Trying to use a smartphone can often lead to technological issues that take up your appointment time.
  • Generally, we work with writers on take-home exams only if they have written approval from their instructor to use OWRC or other writing centers for that purpose. If you bring a take-home exam to the OWRC, please be prepared to show written permission from your instructor, perhaps via Canvas, on the take-home prompt, or via email.
  • If you have to cancel, please do so more than 2 hours in advance of your appointment time in order to avoid account deactivation. After 3 “no-shows” in a term, writers will no longer be able to book appointments with us until the following quarter. Please respect our tutors and other writers who would like to work with us by making full use of the sessions you reserve.
  • Unless you are working on a thesis or dissertation, you may only bring the same assignment in a maximum of 3 times.

We look forward to seeing you!