FAQ Answers

Where is the Writing Center located?

The Writing Center's main office is located on the lower level of the Student and Academic Services Building North (SASB). Go to the SASB website for directions and parking information. The Writing Center also has a satellite office in Greenlaw Hall, Room 221. This office is open fewer hours.

When is the Writing Center open?

During the fall and spring semesters, the main Writing Center in SASB is open 9-8 Monday-Thursday, 9-4 Friday, and 5-8 Sunday. The Writing Center's satellite office in Greenlaw 221 is open during the daytime only; hours vary, so use "Make an Appointment" to see when openings for tutoring are available at Greenlaw.

Is the Writing Center handicap accessible?

Yes. Both of our spaces are accessible by elevator.

Who tutors in the Writing Center?

Graduate students serve as tutors in the Writing Center. Tutors come from departments across campus and are trained by the Writing Center directors. To see a photo of this year's tutors, go to our staff page.

How much does it cost to use the Writing Center?

Nothing. Writing Center services are free.

Is it okay for me to use the Writing Center?
The Writing Center offers different services to different groups of writers on campus. To learn more about what is available to you, visit our campus services information page. Generally, instructors are pleased when students come to the Writing Center. We abide by the Honor Code of the University; since the sessions focus on giving you feedback on your writing, rather than editing or writing for you, coming to the Writing Center does not raise any Honor Code issues. You must ask your instructor for permission before coming to the Writing Center to work on a take-home essay.

Can I get help with writing in a language other than English (for example, an essay written in Spanish for my Spanish literature course)?

No. Our tutors cannot help you with writing in languages other than English. Check with your instructor to find out whether there are resources to help you with compositions for foreign language courses.

Can I get help for a friend or family member?

While everyone is welcome to use the Writing Center's online handouts, our tutoring services are available only to current students, faculty, and staff of UNC-Chapel Hill. Do not make an appointment to discuss someone else's writing or submit someone else's draft to the Online Tutor. If your friend or family member might be interested in working with a Chapel Hill-area writing tutor or editor, please refer him or her to our "Help for Hire" listing.

What if I just have a quick question about my writing?

We welcome all kinds of questions about writing. If yours is a quick one focusing on a particular sentence, word, or punctuation mark, try calling the Grammar Hotline at 962-7710.

How do I use the onsite Writing Center services?

Go to our homepage and follow the instructions to make an appointment on the web. Be sure to note the location of your appointment (SASB or Greenlaw). If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so by returning to the same site, clicking "Make an Appointment," and then choosing "Cancel an Appointment."

Who can make an appointment?

All degree-seeking undergraduates at UNC-Chapel Hill may make appointments for individual tutoring; so may graduate students, faculty, and staff. If you are an undergraduate, you can make two appointments per week. If you are an on-campus graduate student, staff or faculty member, you can make one appointment per week. If you are a non-degree-seeking Continuing Studies student, you can use the Writing Center on a walk-in basis only. If you are a graduate student from a unit other than the College of Arts and Sciences (such as one of the professional schools), you will need to schedule your appointment on a same-day basis. For more information, visit our campus services webpage. Visiting scholars are classified differently by different departments and should contact the Writing Center to discuss their eligibility for services. Unfortunately, tutoring is not available to alumni, students at other schools, or the family members of UNC students, faculty, and staff.

How do I make an appointment?

To make an appointment, simply choose "Make an Appointment" on our homepage and follow the on-screen directions to choose a day and time. Be sure to note the location of your appointment.

Can I request a particular tutor?

Yes, when you make an appointment you have the option of choosing a particular tutor. All tutors are trained to help you with any of your writing needs or concerns. Check out our staff page for more information about our tutors.

What should I do if my ONYEN does not work or I do not have an ONYEN?

You need a valid UNC ONYEN to make an appointment. We cannot make an appointment for you. If you do not have an ONYEN or the system will not accept it, contact Onyen Services.

What should I do if no appointments are available?

At some points in the semester, the Writing Center's calendar can fill up as much as a week in advance. If you cannot find an appointment time that works for you, here are your options:

Please click the "turnaway - I can't make an appointment button" on the appointment scheduling page so we can keep track of appointment demand.



What should I do if I need to reschedule?

On the Calendar Login page, choose "Cancel an Appointment." After cancelling the appointment you no longer want, you can click "Make an Appointment" to look for a new appointment time. You may want to check to be sure another appointment is available before you cancel the one you currently have scheduled, as our calendar is sometimes very full.

How far in advance do I need to cancel my appointment?

Although you (and only you) can cancel until right before your scheduled appointment, we prefer that you cancel at least 24 hours in advance so other students have the opportunity to make an appointment. If you absolutely cannot get to a computer to cancel, please call (919)962-7710 to let our staff know that you will not be at your appointment.

What happens if I do not show up for my appointment without cancelling?

You will be entered into the database as a "no-show" for that appointment. If you fail to show up for several appointments, your future appointments will be cancelled, and you will be required to meet with the Writing Center Director before resuming use of Writing Center services.

What if I am late to my appointment?

At 10 minutes after the hour when your appointment was supposed to start, you will be entered as a no-show and your tutor will be reassigned.

What is involved in an onsite visit to the Writing Center?

Appointments in the Writing Center are 50-minute conversations with a tutor about your writing. The tutor will read through your paper with you, answer your questions, and work with you to strengthen your paper and your skills as a writer. You and the tutor may discuss any aspect of your writing project or process.

What kind of writing can I bring to the Writing Center?

You can bring any sort of writing you wish to either the online or onsite Writing Center. We give priority to academic work, but we also can provide assistance with application essays, grant proposals, or other writing. If you are working on an honors thesis, master's thesis or dissertation, you may want to schedule multiple appointments and focus on parts of the longer project.

What kind of help will I receive from a tutor?

Writing Center tutors will discuss your writing assignments with you and make suggestions on approaching a topic, organizing a paper, developing your style, or correcting recurring errors. Tutors may also direct you to other resources for further assistance. Tutors will not edit or proofread a paper or write any part of your paper for you.

Will my instructor know that I have used the Writing Center?

Yes. If you are an undergraduate who is working on an assignment for a course, as part of our services, the tutor will (with your permission) send a conference summary to your instructor. This report describes what you and your tutor worked on during your session (e.g. "Marie and I talked about the focus of her paper on the breast cancer scare and how she might reorganize the first and sixth paragraphs to strengthen her argument. We also discussed the difference between passive and active voice."). Conference summaries let your teachers know that you have taken the initiative to improve as a writer; they do not evaluate you, your assignment, or your teachers in any way. Most instructors are delighted to learn that you have visited the Writing Center. Your teachers see your work here as a sign that you are a productive, conscientious student who knows the value of good writing skills and who has the wisdom to make use of this resource.

Is it okay for me to bring take-home exams to the Writing Center?

For take-home exams, some instructors specify whether you may or may not bring your work to the Writing Center. If this issue is not explicity addressed in the prompt, we normally depend on your sense of whether the instructor has recommended the Writing Center or would condone a visit for take-home exams. Since your instructor will know from the conference summary that you have been here, it is your responsibility to make this determination. If you have any questions about whether it is appropriate to get feedback from the Writing Center on take-home exams, ask your instructor before you bring in your paper or submit it online.

How do I register with the Online Tutor?

 Return to our homepage and click on the On-line Tutor link. This will take you to an introduction page. Click on the "enter" link on the sidebar and follow the on-screen instructions. You'll need a vaild UNC Onyen to use the Online Tutor.

Can everyone use the Online Tutor?

Current students, faculty, and staff can submit drafts to the Online Tutor. Submissions by Arts and Sciences students that are related to academic projects (courses, theses, and dissertations) will receive priority. During busy times, we may not be able to respond to all submissions before their due dates.
Do I have to be affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to use the Online Tutor?

 Yes, you do. The Writing Center's mission is to serve members of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill community. If you are a non-UNC educator or technology professional and would like to see the forms students fill out when they submit drafts, please contact us.
Can I request that a particular tutor respond to my online submission?

No. Tutors respond to submissions on a fixed schedule. If you want to work with a particular tutor, please set up a face-to-face appointment.
How long will it take to submit a paper to the Online Tutor?

 Not long. Filling out the submission form and attaching your draft will probably take about 15 minutes.

How often can I submit something to the Online Tutor?

 In order that our tutors may serve as many people as possible, we limit individual services (appointments or Online Tutor sessions) for undergraduates to a maximum of one per day, two per paper, or two per week (whichever comes first). Graduate students, faculty, and staff are limited to one individual visit or Online Tutor session per week.

How long a document can I submit to the Online Tutor?

 To provide time for the tutor to read your paper and provide a thoughtful response, we limit page length to 10 pages. If you have a lengthy paper, particularly a thesis or dissertation, make an appointment at our onsite Writing Center. You are also welcome to submit troubling excerpts or paragraphs to the Online Tutor.


How do I turn my paper into an attachment for the Online Tutor?

 From the submission page within the Online Tutor you can attach a file and find these instructions repeated. Attaching a file is easy and worth a try if you haven't done it before. Attachments preserve your formatting. Any "local" file can be attached via the "Browse" button on the submission form. Please save the file you will attach as a Microsoft Word document.
  1. Click the Browse button on the submission form to open a dialog box that allows you to select a file from your computer. You may need to click the Files by Type drop-down menu to enable you to see the appropriate files on your computer.
  2. Navigate to the folder or directory where the file exists.
  3. Select the desired file and click Open. The file will then be attached to your submission.

What if I need to change something about my submission? What if I attached the wrong file by mistake?

 Log into the Online Tutor and click on "My Submissions." You can change your answers in any of the text boxes. If you need to attach a different file, use the Browse function to find the file you want to attach. Select it and click "Open" in the dialog box. The filename should now appear in the "Browse" box on your online submission page, but it will look like your old file is still attached. Hit "Submit," then go back to "My Submissions" and look at the submission again. You should see that the new file has replaced the old one and that any answers you changed have been updated. Changing your submission is not possible once a tutor has claimed it and begun to work on it; if you need to speak with us about a submission at that point, call us at 962-7710.

When will a tutor respond to the draft I submit through the Online Tutor?

 That depends on how busy we are when you submit your draft. When you submit your paper to the Online Tutor, the weather report will tell you how full our queue is and when you should expect a response; in most cases, it is likely to take one to three business days. Please note that we are open for only a few hours on the weekend, and we have face-to-face appointments during most of those hours; weekend submissions are not likely to receive a response before Monday. When demand is particularly high, we may not be able to serve you in time for our comments to be useful; if this is the case, a director will write to you and let you know.

How do I know that a tutor has responded to the paper I submitted online?

 You will receive notification by email that your paper is ready. Make sure you have entered your email correctly on the submission form. If you have entered an incorrect email address, you will not be notified that a tutor has responded to your submission.

How do I retrieve the tutor's response to my paper?

 Return to the Online Tutor homepage, click the "On-line Tutor" link and enter your Onyen and password, then choose "My Submissions" from the menu that appears. The most recently submitted paper will be at the top of the list.

Can I review the tutor's comments on a paper that I submitted earlier to the Online Tutor?

 Sure. Return to the homepage, click the "On-line Tutor" link and enter your name and password, then choose "My Submissions" to view your personal archive.

Who will have access to the material I submit in the Online Tutor?

 Only you and the Writing Center staff. When you first enter the system and complete a profile, you create a corridor of restricted access to our system. That corridor allows you and the staff at the Writing Center to interact and maintains space for us to hold your work for you in the Writing Center. Upon your first visit, we will establish a personal archive for you which you can review at any time. All work with the Writing Center takes place within the guidelines of the University Honor Code.
How do online conference summaries work? Like onsite summaries, online summaries are sent to your instructor following a conference. Like onsite summaries, they do not evaluate you, your instructor, or the assignment in any way. They describe your concerns and the tutor's suggestions to you regarding the paper. Most instructors are delighted to learn that you have visited the Writing Center. Your teachers see your work here as a sign that you are a productive, conscientious student who knows the value of good writing skills and who has the wisdom to make use of this resource. Online summaries are sent to the instructor when the tutor finishes responding to your paper; they are archived on this site. You can see the conference summary for each submission on the page where you retrieve the tutor's comments.
I have some suggestions for improving Writing Center services. Where can I send them?

 Please email us with any suggestions.