Our Programs

The Ott hosts programs for writers and programs for instructors teaching courses with significant writing assignments.

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For undergraduates:  Ott Scholars Program (OSP)

The Ott Scholars program is a program developed by the Ott Memorial Writing Center aimed at offering support to undergraduate students who wish to develop better writing and working practices to apply to their 蜜桃影像 career.   

We鈥檙e here to (1) provide some low-stakes external accountability; (2) cheerlead you and your project; (3) help you brainstorm ways of setting goals and protecting your time to help you make the progress you want and need to make; (4) get some writing done during our weekly meeting time (if you wish). 

For more details and to sign up, click here.

For graduate students: Writing Accountability Partners (WrAP) Program

Do you want (or need) to get more writing done? Did you know that writers who write regularly (rather than waiting to feel inspired) and share their progress with someone else produced three times as much text and reported enjoying writing more?    

Because many graduate students would benefit from more structure and encouragement as they work through a large project (like a dissertation or master鈥檚 thesis)鈥攚e invite you to participate in the Writing Accountability Partners (or WrAP) Program.   Facilitated by the Ott Memorial Writing Center, the WrAP Program offers focused accountability for a limited number of graduate student writers.      

For more details and to sign up, click here. 

For all: Speaking and Writing for English Language Learners (SWELL)

To support English language learners across campus, the Ott Memorial Writing Center offers practice in writing and speaking. The program is available on a first come/first served basis.          

We offer two options.  You can choose one or both:      

  • In the 鈥淲ritten Grammar and Style鈥� component, you will meet weekly for 30 minutes with your SWELL Partner.  At the start of the semester, you will share 3 writing samples with your Partner.  Together you will analyze those writing samples to identify 3-5 goals: those might be patterns of grammatical error or questions of style. Each week you will work on better understanding those issues of grammar and style and putting that understanding to use in revising your own prose.  Please note: Your SWELL Partner will not proofread documents for you, but will help you learn to revise your own work.     
  • In the 鈥淐onversation Partner鈥� program, you will meet weekly for 30 minutes with your SWELL Partner. At the start of the semester, you鈥檒l set some goals for your conversational skills: Do you want to practice casual conversation?  Do you want to work on more formal spoken English?  Do you want to watch clips of movies or tv shows and ask questions about pop culture references or current events?  Whatever your goals, your SWELL partner will give you encouragement and corrective feedback along the way.  Please note: If you would like to attend Conversation Partner meetings with a friend, that is entirely welcome.  

For more details and to sign up, click here. 

For instructors: Informational Class Visits

Help students know they are welcome at the Ott: Invite a peer tutor to spend 10-15 minutes talking with your undergrad and graduate classes about what the Ott Writing Center has to offer, where to find us, and how to sign up. .

For instructors: In-Class Workshops

Our staff would be delighted to visit your classroom (or join your student organization) to lead a workshop (generally these last 45 or 70 minutes).

Common workshops focus on process issues (e.g., getting started with an assignment or providing engaged peer review feedback) or on unfamiliar genres (e.g., lit reviews, personal statements, reflective essays).

As a general rule, we need at least two weeks of lead time to schedule a workshop.  .  

For instructors: Assignment SOS Program

The Assignment SOS Program gives instructors a chance to match a single writing assignment in one of their courses with out-of-class, one-to-one or small-group tutoring for enrolled students. 

This opportunity is perfect for writing assignments that ask students to: 

  • write in a style, structure, or format that鈥檚 new or unfamiliar
  • synthesize disparate ideas and/or sources of information
  • undertake substantial revisions (e.g., of ideas, of argumentation)
  • remix a previous assignment (e.g., turn a long essay into a brief presentation, turn a report or paper into a poster)
  • do a lot of independent work (e.g., read or research outside of class, manage phases of a long-term project)

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis beginning August 1 for Fall and December 1 for Spring. The asks for the course number and title, enrollment numbers or estimates, and assignment details, including timeframe (e.g., date the assignment is introduced, date the assignment is due). Accepted applicants will be asked to share additional information at least two weeks prior to tutoring, including an assignment sheet or prompt and evaluation criteria (e.g., rubric). Instructors who have previously taught the assignments they have in mind should plan to share additional details, including common errors, examples of strong student work, and suggested 鈥渄o鈥檚鈥� and 鈥渄on鈥檛s.鈥�

Please note: We are able to accept 8-12 Assignment SOSes per semester. Applications are read on a first-come, first-served basis. Depending on interest in any given semester, we may need to limit interested instructors to one assignment per course.