Writing Center Philosophy
We are here to help all students who wish to become better
writers. We will work closely with those who realize that
becoming a better writer requires planning, effort, and commitment.
The Writing Center is for writers at all levels of experience: ESL,
freshmen, honors students, and graduate students alike. The Writing
Center is not a "remedial center," but a place for all St. John's
University students, regardless of experience or ability. It is our
responsibility to be honest with students. If students come
to the Writing Center expecting us to just "fix" their mistakes, or
to write their paper for them, we have an obligation to explain why
we do not do these things. Such "band-aid" approaches only
teach students to become dependent on others. We want students to
become self-reliant.
How We Are Different from the Tutoring
Center
The Writing Center doesn't emphasize content in the same way. If
you have a paper due for your microeconomics course and you want
help writing it, you'd come to the Writing Center. But chances are
most of the Writing Center tutors (or as we often call them,
"consultants") probably know nothing about microeconomics--nor do
they have to. The Writing Center consultant's job is to help your
students better understand how to write, and revise, that paper. If
they are struggling to start the paper, a visit with a consultant
will help them analyze the assignment, begin brainstorming, and
come up with possible approaches. If they're halfway through
a paper and not sure what to do next, a visit with a consultant
might help students rethink the organization, their sense of
audience, their claims, the way they’ve assembled evidence, their
use of counter-arguments, how well they’ve defined their terms.
Consultants also help students identify recurring errors, and try
to explain them with the help of a grammar handbook.