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Course Conferencing in the Core Curriculum

Matched to specific courses at each semester’s start, trained undergraduate WAs work alongside students enrolled in functioning as sympathetic first readers of drafts and offering targeted feedback at any point of the writing process.

Conferencing with course-assigned WAs takes place in the form of three  40-minute conferences per student per semester—either face to face or online (using our default platform MS Teams). We in the Writing Center are flexible about methods as long as they include both a shared text and a conversation. Texts (drafts, prompts and rubrics) can be shared as hard copies and dropped off in the Writing Center or as electronic copies via the Teams chat function or North Park email, ideally 48 hours prior to the each scheduled conference. Since WAs are students themselves and may be enrolled in Writing Intensive or Writing & Research/Keystone courses, WAs act both as peers and tutors; their work is a form of collaborative learning that fosters advisees’ ability to develop their own writing strategies and confidence.

Writing Partners

Students interested in receiving consistent (weekly) writing help from the same WA may make arrangements to request a writing partner by emailing Melissa Pavlik at mpavlik@northpark.edu.

COMPASS (Centering Our Minds Passionately Around Student Success)

prepares domestic first-year students for academic and social challenges as well as adjusting to college life. Writing instruction and assignments are a vital component of the COMPASS program, and the Writing Center supports COMPASS students as they deepen their understanding of academic discourse, gain confidence in reading and understanding prompts, explore writing as a process, and form college-level writing habits.