The mission of the Eckerd College Writing Center is to help all students realize their potential as effective and efficient writers. In one-on-one sessions, we offer a neutral trial run before students submit their work for evaluation; through questioning and active listening, trained peer tutors offer thoughtful suggestions that help students organize and clearly state their thoughts. Of course, students always maintain agency over their work and are free to take or reject our advice. Importantly, we help students at any stage of their writing process: brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising. Writing Center services are free to all students currently enrolled at Eckerd College.
Student "Writing Consultants" are trained to help guide their classmates through invention strategies, rewriting, self-editing, and careful proofreading. Consultants will not make changes to the writer's draft, nor will they edit or proofread for students; they instead will coach writers by reading drafts carefully and giving the writer feedback on the paper’s focus/thesis, organization and development, voice or tone, handling and documentation of source material, etc. The consultants’ goal is to coax from the writer their best work.
There are eight Mac computers with printing capabilities available for use.
The Writing Center is located in Seibert 103.
Fall and Spring Term hours
Sunday - Thursday, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Autumn Term hours
Sunday - Thursday, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Winter Term (January) hours
Sunday - Thursday, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Come with an open mind and a willingness to work. We won't "fix" your paper for you. Our goal is to help you better revise and edit your own work. We use dialogue so that you leave a session with suggestions, strategies, and tips on improving your work.
Arrive at the Writing Center at least 30 minutes before closing time and, ideally, at least three days before your paper is due.
Bring as much as you can to the session. As well as a draft (if you're at that stage of your process), bring the prompt, rubric, and anything else that will help the tutor give you feedback.
Come with questions about your work and an idea of what you want to work on with a tutor.
Plan to work on only one paper during a session.
Turn off your cell phone before working with a tutor.