Policies

Policies for Writers:

Writers Workshop Code of Conduct:

The Writers Workshop operates within the larger inclusive and professional environment of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In creating a diverse and respectful environment, the Writers Workshop will not accept verbal abuse or acts of intolerance, including those based on race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, political orientation, language, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, education, ability, neurodiversity, socioeconomic, cognitive, appearance, and other identities in any and all of our educational settings. These policies are applicable in in-person and online environments. All participants (consultants, staff, and writers) have the right to conclude a session at any point if they feel uncomfortable. The Writers Workshop aims to maintain a safe, supportive, and healthy working environment for both the writers and the consultants.

If participants violate this conduct policy, consequences may include being denied appointments with specific tutors, permanent or temporary ban from the Writers Workshop, and/or being reported to a campus official.

Appointment Policies:

  • Writers may currently have 2 appointments per week (the week begins on Monday), across all schedules.
  • We do not have strict limits on drop-in consultation attendance. However, if you have attended one or more drop-in sessions within an evening and/or five or more within a week, we may ask you to limit your number of drop-in sessions during especially busy times, such as midterms and finals. Visit the FAQ page to learn more and determine which type of consultation is best for your writing.
  • We encourage writers to schedule an appointment in advance or to plan on using our dedicated drop-in consultation hours. However, we will do our best to help walk-in writers at any location except when our appointments are fully reserved. In those cases, we will help you to either make an appointment or visit during our drop-in consultation hours.
  • Appointment reservations may be made up to 10 days in advance.
  • If you are a student who believes you would benefit from one weekly appointment, one appointment every other week, or one monthly standing appointment, please contact the Writers Workshop (wow@illinois.edu) to discuss the best options for you and your writing needs. Recurring appointments will end two weeks before finals period to prioritize our resources for end-of-semester assignments.
  • If you have made an appointment for a group project, please indicate that on the appointment form. We ask that at least half of a group’s members are present for the appointment.
  • All appointments must be made under your own name and email account. You may use only one email account. Users with more than one account, who make an appointment under another person’s account, or who allow another person to make an appointment under their account may be blocked for the rest of the semester.
  • The writing you bring must be your own (collaborative or co-authored work is fine). Users who bring other writers’ work may be asked to leave theWriters Workshop Image session or their account may be blocked for the rest of the semester.
  • The Writers Workshop offers limited one-on-one writing consultations to recent alums of UIUC. To learn more and schedule an appointment, please contact the Writers Workshop directly by email wow@illinois.edu or by phone (217) 333-8796. The Writers Workshop is typically booked from midterms through finals, so you most likely will not be able to see a consultant during this period. 

Cancellation Policies:

  • Please cancel appointments more than 4 hours in advance. If you cancel less than 4 hours prior to your appointment time, this will be considered a late cancellation.
  • If you cancel less than 30 minutes prior to your appointment time, this will be marked as a “missed” appointment.
  • If you are more than 15 minutes late, this will be marked as a “missed” appointment. If you know you are running late, please call or email us so that we can make accommodations (217-333-8796, wow@illinois.edu).
  • You are allowed a maximum of 4 late cancellations or 2 missed appointments in a semester. If you hit either maximum limit, you will be blocked from making appointments for the rest of the semester.
  • Missed appointments count toward your 2 appointments per week. However, you may contact us to reschedule on a case-by-case basis.
  • Please contact the Writers Workshop in the case of extenuating circumstances (217-333-8796, wow@illinois.edu). If you have an in-person appointment but are unable to make it to campus, please contact us and we may be able to make accommodations.

Additional In-Person Appointment Policies:

  • If you are sick, please stay home! You are welcome to contact us, and we can help you switch your appointment to online rather than in-person.
  • For health and safety reasons, we encourage you to bring your own device or to bring two copies of your document. If possible, we suggest creating a shareable Google Doc before your appointment, so that you and your consultant can interact with the text on separate devices. We also have desktop computers available.
  • Individuals are always welcome to wear a face covering to protect themselves. Given the close proximity necessitated by our consultations, we encourage you to consider wearing a face covering in the Writers Workshop.

Additional Live Online Appointment Policies:

Online appointments through the Writers Workshop are an extension of the University’s instructional space. Both writers and consultants should conduct themselves during online consultations the same way they would on campus. To ensure that this is possible, please:

  • Plan ahead to ensure you have access to a space that will enable you to interact with our consultants via video, audio, and/or chat functions.
  • Do not schedule sessions during your classes.
  • Excuse yourself if you need to step away from your device. 
  • We have additional tips about troubleshooting during online appointments here.

Policies for Instructors: 

Requiring students to visit the Writers Workshop

We ask that you avoid making a Writers Workshop visit a class requirement, because we cannot accommodate required use of the Workshop with our current staffing resources. Rather than requiring your students to make an appointment with the Workshop, we encourage you to contact us so that we can provide a tailored in-class presentation to your students. We find that we can accomplish a lot in these large-group formats, and that students are more likely to visit the Workshop after gaining insight into how they can benefit from the one-to-one sessions.

                                                                  Extra credit

Writers Workshop ImageYou might consider providing extra credit for students who visit the Writers Workshop to receive feedback or attend one of our workshops. If you decide to offer a full class extra credit for coming to the Workshop—especially if you teach a high-enrollment course—we ask that you call or email to let us know your students will be coming. To document proof of attendance for writing consultations, your students can request that we copy you on their post-session report form or they can take a picture of their drop-in form. To document proof of attendance at a presentation, your students can take a picture of our Powerpoint and/or pick up a handout. While we can provide proof of attendance, with students’ permission, we will protect students’ privacy and authorial agency and will not monitor students who have used our services.

Syllabus Statement

If you’d like to provide your students with information about our services, feel free to use our syllabus statement.

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