Students can book appointments 2 weeks in advance. During the final 4 weeks of the semester, students may only book two appointments maximum per week. Please read below for our full list of policies & procedures.
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Fall Schedule: September 3-December 11
Monday: 10am-7pm
Tuesday: 10am-7pm
Wednesday: 10am-7pm
Thursday: 10am-7pm
Friday: 10am-3pm
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Fall Semester Holiday Closures: Fall Break - October 7-8; Thanksgiving - November 27-29
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The Writing Center helps students in ALL disciplines across the university. We can help students with reading comprehension, brainstorming, prewriting, essay drafting, critical thinking, integrating sources, avoiding plagiarism, citation styles, strategies for proofreading and editing, and ESL-specific needs. We also specialize in helping students with personal statements for graduate school applications.
TWC Consultants walk students through a series of strategies to improve their learning processes over time. We do not edit or proofread students' papers for them; rather, we facilitate an engaging environment of support so students learn from where they are and improve as writers on a more holistic basis.
Students and faculty can view TUTORIAL VIDEOS for using our system on our main website: udmercy.edu/twc. Online appointments with TWC last 25-minutes out of the 30-minute time slots. The remaining 5 minutes are used by staff to complete paperwork and to prepare for starting the next appointment on time.
The Writing Center is committed to the University of Detroit Mercy's Mission, and we make daily efforts to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism in our sessions and in our staff. To learn more about TWC's antiracism and anti-stereotyping professional development efforts, reach out to us at writingcenter@udmercy.edu.
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To book an appointment: login, open the calendar, click on the appointment that works for your schedule (available appointments are in white), complete the requested information in the form, and submit the appointment. You will see your appointment in yellow once booked. When you book an appointment, it also sends you an auto-email confirmation of the booking. Please note this appointment in your personal planner or calendar.
To cancel an appointment: login, go to the appointment, and click on the button within the appointment to cancel it. You can cancel an appt up to 5 minutes before.
If you have an online appointment scheduled, please follow these steps to access our online appointment platform at the time of your appointment:
- Create a new account OR login, as usual, to udm.mywconline.com.
- If you forgot your password, please follow the steps at the login page for resetting the password.
- It is not advised to use this on your phone because it will not display accurately on a mobile device, and phone screen size is too small to see written work comfortably. TWC cannot be responsible for session issues that may arise if a laptop or a desktop are not used.
- Click on your appointment in the time slot you booked. It should show up in YELLOW on the calendar.
- Click on "start or join online consultation" in the middle of the appointment box. this will open up a new screen.
- Have your DRAFT ready to PASTE into the LARGE WHITE box to the LEFT.
- Also have your ASSIGNMENT RUBRIC available to paste into the large white box on the left.
- Text-, Video- & Audio-chat in REAL TIME with the consultant about your goals/needs for the session in the RIGHT chat panel.
- You and the consultant will also be able to type into the large white box on the left, and the color-coded indicators will show which things were written by you and by the consultant. Because our system is also video- & audio-enabled, it will be like you are in person with the consultant. The text chat portion of our system is very much like text messaging or instant messaging and is an effective way of communicating about your piece of writing as long as the student is engaged. If video/audio are malfunctioning, consultants will defer to using the text-only system.
- Please keep in mind that TWC consultants do not edit students' papers, and in the online setting, that is still the case.
- If you ENABLE VIDEO/AUDIO on your computer, you will be able to also see/hear the consultant. Your first time, please login a few minutes early in order do the following:
- Please enable the camera & microphone on your computer (in the browser) and then "refresh" your browser window for the change to take effect.
- If the camera & microphone do not work on your computer after doing this, please do the following: either LOG OUT & back in again OR TRY ANOTHER BROWSER (i.e. change from Chrome to Safari, etc.). If the video/audio fails to work after 5 minutes of trying, the text-only method will be used for your session.
- You can choose to not use video, and merely need to click on the camera icon on the video pane to disable it. Audio-only will suffice to enrich the session.
- AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WIFI & BROWSER WINDOWS WITH TWC ONLINE SESSIONS: Please keep in mind that home or school WIFI may or may not be reliable if there isn't enough bandwidth to support video. Additionally, having many browser windows/tabs open at one time will significantly decrease the successful completion of an online appointment using the MYWCONLINE system. TWC isn't responsible for failures of WIFI or system failures as they affect the successful completion of online appointments. Ways to improve chances of successfully using our online consulting system are these:
- please close all browser windows/tabs that aren't needed.
- be prepared to refresh your browser (or change browsers) as necessary
- be prepared to log out and back in again.
- be prepared to turn off the video (leaving audio enabled)
- be prepared to need to default to the text-only interface (TWC consultants are trained default to this is audio/video aren't working by 5 minutes into the appt).
- be prepared, for major system failures (i.e. the actual software isn't working), to reschedule the appointment.
- avoid making last-minute appointments.
POLICIES
- Appointments are in 30-minute increments for undergraduates & 60 minutes for graduate students. Appointments last 25 minutes of the 30-minutes allotted; the remaining 5 minutes are used by staff to complete internal forms and to prepare to start the next appointment on time.
- Appointments can only be booked 30 minutes or more in advance. (Ex: If it is 10:46 a.m. right now, a student cannot book the 11 a.m. appointment; however, they can book the 11:30 a.m. appointment).
- Students can book up to two weeks in advance.
- Students are allowed 2 appointments in a day; also allowed are four per week max. Exception: during the final 4 weeks of the semester, the max is two per week.
- Please note: scheduled appointments may be moved to various TWC consultants at the TWC Director's discretion. All TWC consultants are trained equally and are able and ready to help all students in all disciplines.
- Late appointments are marked at 5 minutes; students accumulating 2 missed appointments will find their accounts automatically disabled by the system. Students can cancel up to 30 minutes before the appointment.
- Students are advised to use our system only on laptops or desktops; mywconline does not function adequately on mobile devices.
- TWC's services are available for matriculated Detroit Mercy students. At this time, we are unable to work with non-Detroit Mercy students.
- Using text-generating software? Please tell us. This is safe space to talk about and experiment with your use of AI in writing. We may ask if you used ChatGPT in your writing--we do not mean to insult you. Let's check your professor's policy for using it, and the implications if they prohibit it. We will not report on your use.
If you need proof of attendance:
Option 1: please "screen shot" the final, text-based chat message between you and the consultant; you should provide that directly to your professor. That will show you completed the session. TWC standards for a complete appointment are that the session ended at or very near the 25-minute mark; faculty are aware of this.
Option 2: within four hours after your session is completed, you will receive an email confirming your appointment was completed and requesting that you complete a survey. You can share this email with your professor by printing, saving, or forwarding it.
Option 3: We can provide you with a stamped sheet to give to your professor in person.
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Contact TWC at writingcenter@udmercy.edu.
Visit our university website for full information about The Writing Center, including TUTORIAL VIDEOS: www.udmercy.edu/twc
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L.R./March 20, 2024
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