Undergraduate Programs

How To Start a Drop-in Conference

The Writing Center offers drop-in conferencing with in-person and online options. For in-person conferencing, visit us in Brandel Library, room 123. For online conferencing, follow the steps below:

  1. Click here to see which Writing Assistants (WAs) are on duty. Be ready to share writing you’re working on, the prompt, etc. and talk with your WA in real time. The Writing Center is a “drop-in center” not a “drop-off center.” You cannot send us your paper and expect us to send it back later with feedback.
  2. Email or send a MS Teams message to the drop-in WA(s) that says “I am ready for a conference.”
  3. Once you and the WA connect, you can decide to continue the conference on Microsoft Teams or a mutually-agreed-upon alternate platform such as looking at the submitted document together while talking on the phone.
  4. Click here to sign in once you’ve started your drop-in.
  5. Need help? Try our “How To Initiate a Drop-in Conference” video on our Handouts and Workshop Videos page.
  6. Looking for a WA who’s knowledgeable about a certain subject? View our WAs’ subject specialties. 

Are you a graduate/SPS student? WAs can serve as sympathetic first readers for graduate/SPS students during drop-in hours, working on higher order concerns such as interpreting prompts, paper organization and development, or checking citation format. WAs may direct graduate students back to their professors if asked content-based questions they don’t feel qualified to answer or to Melissa Pavlik for grammar/ESL concerns.