Overview of Grad Support

Graduate students can find support at the Writing Center in 3 main ways:

  • Attend our Graduate Writing Workshop Series to workshop drafts of thesis or dissertation chapters, conference papers, journal articles, seminar papers, or other projects. This is the primary place where graduate students can find assistance with the revision process because experience tells us that the sustained support a graduate student gets from a writing group inspires more writing and more revision than meeting with a tutor (details and dates on the Graduate Writing Workshop Series tab).
  • Meet with a writing tutor to get coaching on how to improve a draft. Graduate students should meet with the Coordinator for Graduate Writing Support for a brief intake session before scheduling tutoring appointments with a tutor. In these intake sessions, we will work together to determine reasonable writing and revision goals and then pair you with an appropriate tutor for a set number of sessions. This policy is in place to ensure that graduate students get the sustained support they need. For more information or to schedule an intake session, see the Graduate Student Tutorials tab or contact Sarah at gradwriting@uconn.edu
  • Grad Student Writing Accountability Retreats to carve out time from your schedule to sit with other grad students and get work done in a supportive environment
    • Attend a day-long Writing Retreat, occurring one Friday every month during the semester (details and dates on the 1-day-retreat tab).
    • Attend a three-day-long Writing Retreat, three times per academic year (details and dates on the 3-day-retreat tab).

What the Writing Center can do

  • Give you ready access to welcoming peers and collaborators to talk through your ideas
  • Help you develop strategies for getting started on projects, persisting in drafting, revising your work, and editing your prose
  • Provide feedback on whether or not you are expressing ideas the way you intend
  • Connect you to writing seminars, print and online guides, and other resources

What the Writing Center cannot do

  • Serve as a substitute for advisor feedback

Sarah Bertekap (she/her)
Coordinator for Graduate Writing Support
University Writing Center
University of Connecticut, Storrs

Office: Homer Babbidge Library, Level 2, Room 128
Email: gradwriting@uconn.edu