Department of English

Editing Policy

In accordance with its mission, the Writing Center is committed to helping students develop as writers, whether they are wrestling with a paper topic or learning to proofread effectively. With an emphasis on active learning, the Writing Center teaches students how to critically read and analyze their own writing. As such, the Writing Center does not provide an editing service; rather, we assist students in developing the skills they need to produce, develop, polish and revise their own work.

This means that consultants will:

1. Direct a student's attention to problems, errors, patterns of error or other areas of concern in a paper. Every error will not be pointed out; instead, consultants will address only a sampling of errors, identifying the kind of error being made and explaining how to correct it.
2. Introduce and explain rules and conventions that apply to problem areas in a student's work by going over related sections in a handbook and/or using part of the student's own paper.
3. Work to ensure that the student is aware of these rules and conventions and can apply them independently. Consultants often encourage the student to work through practice exercises, to read the paper aloud, or to consult reference material for further development.

Consultants will not:

1. Go page by page through a paper and detect every error for the student.
2. Make grammatical or typographic corrections for the student (except by way of example to help the student learn how to make that correction on his or her own).
3. Take responsibility for the final product's correctness or grade.