Although the tutors are not there to "correct" your paper--see Editing Policy below--they will help you become decreasingly dependent on them by guiding you through the paper, project or presentation. A session with a tutor will be beneficial if you have any of the following concerns or needs:
Tutor Sessions
- Generating ideas or topics
- Prewriting
- Drafting
- Revising
- Editing
- Integrating sources
- Creating a bibliography (with and without annotations)
- Illustrating a particular documentation style
Writing Center Editing Policy
- Writing tutors will not write your papers for you or perform line-by-line editing. Tutors should not edit or "correct" a paper by proofreading for errors in spelling, sentence structure, or usage. Students cannot leave a paper to be corrected by a tutor. Students must be present and prepared to learn--tutoring is a collaborative process.
- Tutors might suggest that a general problem exists: "I noticed quite a few comma splices in that first section." They may explain the nature of the problem using an example from the paper. The student would be responsible for reviewing the paper for other similar instances. Alternatively, tutors might place check marks in the margins by lines with errors in order to alert the student to problems.
- The tutor should use questions to help clarify the student's ideas, but should not suggest or add original content. The paper should be the student's work.
General Policies
- Lateness: We expect students to be on time. If you are more than ten minutes late for a tutoring session, you will be marked as a no-show for that appointment, and the tutor you were scheduled to work with will move on to another task.
- We understand that things happen, if you know you are going to be late, please call the Writing Center to let us know or to re-schedule.
- If you miss 3 appointments in one semester without calling/canceling in advance, you will be blocked from the online scheduling system for the remainder of the semester. You may contact the Writing Center director to appeal this decision.
- Writing tutors have the right to refuse to work on multiple papers during one tutoring session. The goal of the Writing Center is to help you learn writing skills. It will be difficult for you to learn concepts and make meaningful revisions to your work when you are rushing to do more or to meet an imminent deadline. Writing is a process!
- The Writing Center services are supplemental to in-class instruction. We will still adhere to our mission even if you are visiting the Writing Center for the sole purpose of receiving extra credit or fulfilling a class assignment.
- Group essays, projects, or assignments will be handled at the discretion of the writing tutor. All of our regular expectations and procedures still apply.
Fair Use & Behavior
If you are belligerent, uncooperative, or disrespectful to our employees, you will be referred to the Writing Center Director. We reserve the right to end tutoring sessions early and refuse service; we will not tolerate any harassment or inappropriate behavior. Please respect the privacy of our tutors and do not contact them directly outside of your tutoring sessions.
For online tutoring, do not interrupt other students' tutoring sessions. If a student is found sharing a video or screen shot of an online appointment on their social media or via any other electronic means, they will be asked to remove the video, and they will be banned from scheduling online tutoring sessions at the Writing Center for the remainder of the semester. The incident will also be reported to IU Kokomo's Office of Student Conduct.
Students must be appropriate in the language and content of their sessions. If a tutor is made to feel uncomfortable during a session, they have the right to turn off the video/terminate the session, and report the tutee to the Director. Depending on the severity of the offense, students may be banned from the Writing Center.
The Writing Center enthusiastically supports & adheres to the IUK Civility Statement.
Violation of these policies will be addressed on a case-by-case basis by the Writing Center Director. Students who violate these policies may remain eligible for our services at the sole discretion of the Writing Center through specialized agreements.