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Writing Center

For Faculty

The Director of the Writing Center is available to assist faculty with curricular planning, to support special writing assignments such as senior projects, and to accept individual referrals of students in need of intensive tutoring in writing.  The Director and the faculty Writing Advisory Committee work together to mentor faculty and to assist the Dean of the Faculty and the Committee on Academic Policy in administrating the College's writing program.

Upon request by faculty, writing tutors will visit classes to explain Writing Center services and to demonstrate peer review of writing. 

Writing Intensive Guidelines

Summary of Writing Center Services

Peer Tutoring in Writing
Peer tutoring in writing is a key support service for writing at Hamilton. Nominated by faculty and selected from a very competitive pool, the peer writing tutor staff is comprised of twenty-five of Hamilton's most accomplished student writers. Over the past eight years, 70% of graduating writing tutors were elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and 93% received college honors. The writing tutors help fellow students with all types of writing assignments and with all kinds of writing needs. The tutors are prepared to help develop ideas, discuss argument and organization, and address major grammatical and stylistic concerns.
 
The advantages of writing conferences are many. Students having writing conferences discuss their ideas and receive feedback from experienced peer readers, start writing assignments early, and write multiple drafts. Hamilton students participate in over 2,700 conferences a year; eighty-five percent of students have writing conferences during their college years. About half of all conferences are required by faculty; the other half are voluntary. If you are interested in requiring writing conferences for your class, please contact the Director to confirm dates and provide assignment details. 

Individual Referrals
When you encounter students having significant difficulty in writing, consider referring them to the Director for on-going, professional tutoring.

Individual Faculty Consultation
The Writing Center Director and the faculty members of the Writing Advisory Committee are available to meet with you to discuss any aspect of writing instruction, from designing assignments to responding to final drafts. 
  

Resource Materials

Many materials on writing are available at the Writing Center and its Web site http://www.hamilton.edu/writing  A resource library on writing is also available at the Center.

Materials include
Essentials of Writing, the Hamilton College Style Sheet 
Habits of Effective Writers/Common Errors, a short guide to common response symbols and links to instructional information.


Writing Tips and Guides

(Written by Writing Center Tutors and Hamilton College Faculty Members)

Guidelines for Writing an Essay

Persuasive Essays 
Introductions and Thesis Statements 
Developing a Thesis Statement 
Paragraph Structure 
Transitions 
Conclusions

Guidelines for Writing Other Assignments

Writing for Philosophy 
Writing a Good History Paper  
Writing in the Sciences
Writing an APA Style Research Paper 
Biology Lab Report  
Sample Biology Report  
Sample APA Lab  
Sample APA Graph  
Writing for Geology 
Writing a Book Review 
Writing About Poetry 
Journal Writing 
Personal Statement 
Questions to Ask While Reading Literature

Writing Correctly

Sentence Revision 
Punctuation Patterns Comma Rules 
Common Writing Mistakes
Commonly Confused Words 
Habits of Effective Writers
Verb Tense 
Avoiding Sexist Language

Revision

Peer Review 
Revision from First to Final Draft 

Sources and Citations

Using Sources 
Footnotes 
MLA Documentation: Print Sources
Quotations 
Form for Quotations/Citations  (English Department) 


External Links

Citation Style Guides: APA, Chicago, CBE, and MLA
Citation and Style Guides (Concordia University) 
Fast Reference Information (University of Auckland) 
Research and Citation (Purdue University) 
Internet Citation (Modern Language Association) 
Citation of Internet Documents (Online!) 
RefWorks (Hamilton's citation-management software)

Other Resources

Research and Documentation (Diana Hacker/Bedford Books)
The Writer's Handbook (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
The Elements of Style (Bartleby.com)
Writing with Sources (Harvard University)
Columbia Guide to Online Style 
Common Errors in English 
Guide to Grammar and Writing 
A Word A Day 
Words: Woe and Wonder 
World Wide Words 
The Word Detective
The Word Wizard
Chiasmus.Com 

Note: Materials exclusively for Hamilton faculty are posted on Blackboard under the Writing Program course space. All Hamilton faculty are enrolled in this space. 

Contact information: Sharon Williams, Writing Center Director
315-859-4362, swilliam@hamilton.edu 
Dorian Critelli, Writing Center Administrative Assistant
315-859-4363, dcritell@hamilton.edu                       
updated 4/08

HOURS:
Mon.-Thurs.: 10 a.m. -11 p.m.
Fri.: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Sun.: 1 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Open additional hours for computer use.


TO SCHEDULE, CANCEL, OR INQUIRE ABOUT A WRITING CONFERENCE:
Call (315) 859-4363 or stop by the Writing Center
(K-J 209).

  • To email your draft: wcpapers@hamilton.edu
  • Drafts longer than six pages should be submitted 24 hours in advance.