Writing Center Frequently Asked Questions

We are located on the ground floor of Milne Library, in room 203. If you use the front entrance, just turn past the CIT help desk and then you should see us!

For the spring 2026 semester we are open from 12-7pm Mondays through Thursdays, 12-2pm on Fridays, and 4-7pm on Sundays.

We work with students at any level and from any major. Some of the students who visit us feel like writing is not their strong suit, so they want to receive extra help, while others are quite skilled writers who recognize that receiving and responding to feedback from attentive readers is part of the process of producing strong writing.

Our peer writing consultants are all undergraduate students who have taken WRTG 406: Writing Center Theory and Practice in order to learn how to effectively work with writers at all levels.

They also come from a variety of majors. For fall 2026, the majors, minors, and concentrations represented in our staff include: English (Literature & Creative Writing tracks); Psychology; Art History; Biochemistry; Linguistics; Human Development; History; Philosophy; Adolescence Education; Anthropology; Global Languages & Cultures; Political Science; Sociology; and Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies.

No! All of our staff are trained to work with writing from all disciplines, writing grant proposals or personal statements for grad school/law school/medical school, or any other type of writing.

That being said, when making an appointment, you can choose to search by major if you’d like to work with someone with a major close to yours.

Writing Center sessions are based in collaboration and conversation. One of our highly-trained peer consultants will sit down with you one-on-one, discuss the writing assignment and any concerns or questions you have, read through the assignment/parts of the assignment (either silently or out loud) or ask you to read parts of the assignment out loud, and talk through ideas for revision with you.

By the end of the session, you and the consultant should have identified some specific strategies for revision that you can work on after you leave.

Please note that while grammar may be one thing (among many) that consultants discuss with you, we are not an editing service.

You should bring either a laptop/tablet where you can access your writing assignment, or a paper copy of the assignment. While you can upload your draft when making an appointment, you will still want to have a copy in front of you.

We also suggest bringing a copy of the assignment prompt or description, as our consultants will be able to better assist you if they can see what the assignment is asking for! Any relevant class notes, pre-writing you’ve done, or feedback received from classmates or your instructor will also be helpful.

While you select an hour block when scheduling an appointment, you should expect your session to last between 45 and 50 minutes. The extra time is for the consultant to write a brief report on the session before the hour is up.

While we encourage appointments, we do accept walk-ins! So if we’re open and you suddenly reach a point where you want feedback on your writing, feel free to stop by–we’d love to help you!

As of Spring 2026 we are using WCOnline, and you can make an appointment here. You will sign-in with your Geneseo credentials, and then you can choose an open time slot on the schedule. If it is your first time logging into WCOnline, it will ask you some registration questions.

Not unless you want us to let them know. We can send verification that you attended, and even a brief copy of the post-session report we write, to your professor upon request, but we will only do this if you ask us to. Otherwise, the Writing Center staff will be the only ones who know you have visited us.

Each spring semester we hire for the following fall. The position will be advertised, but Dr. Claire Jackson will also contact students who have been recommended or expressed interest and encourage them to apply. If you’re interested, send her an email at cjackson@geneso.edu