The Writing and Communication Center

The Writing and Communication Center is especially useful for the early stages of projects. Starting well is crucial for doing your best work. To that end, we encourage you to meet with us to discuss:

• Understanding assignments
• Brainstorming and planning drafts
• Developing thesis statements and research questions
• Writing and revising first paragraphs
• Producing outlines and annotated bibliographies

We will also work with you on revising partial or complete drafts, and on general skills and practices such as:

• Writing clear, concise, and organized content
• Using paraphrases, quotations, and other evidence
• Correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors
• Citing sources in MLA or APA
• Formatting documents
• Rehearsing presentations

• Research papers, analytical essays, and all other Hamline writing assignments
• Application essays for scholarships, study away, and graduate school
• Cover letters and resumes
• Presentations and speeches
• Infographics and other visual media
• Graduate capstones and dissertations

• Any progress you have made on your project
• A rubric, assignment sheet, or other instructions
• A list of your questions and concerns
• Optional: Feedback from your peers and professor
• Optional: Relevant class readings and research sources

The Writing and Communication Center is currently hiring!

Peer tutor: Requirements and application process

Peer tutors provide one-on-one tutoring in writing, public speaking, and other forms of communication. Tutors work with undergraduate and graduate students from all Hamline programs, of all skill levels, and at any point in their projects.

View the Writing Center's peer tutor job description. Among other things, tutors must:

• Have excellent writing, communication, research, and interpersonal skills.
• Be enrolled in one of Hamline’s programs as a sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student by their first day of work
• Be available to work eight to 10 hours a week during the fall and spring semesters, with afternoon, evening, and weekend availability preferred
• Participate in pre-semester training and in-semester staff meetings
• Commit to working with us for at least one year

To apply for a position, please complete the online application to be a peer tutor (Google Doc). Its final sections will ask for:

• The names and contact information of two faculty members, from Hamline or another institution, who can supply references upon request
• A cover letter and resume
• An academic writing sample totaling no more than 20 pages; multiple documents are acceptable

We will contact top candidates to schedule an interview. For more information about employment in the Writing and Communication Center, contact us at advising@hamline.edu or 651-523-2912.

We accept walk-ins, but we cannot guarantee a tutor will be available to work with you right away. We encourage you to make an appointment so you receive the help you need when you need it.

If you are running late for an appointment and call us at 651-523-2026, we will hold the appointment for you or help you reschedule.

If you are more than 15 minutes late to an appointment and have not contacted us, we will mark you as a no-show. No-show appointments are a missed opportunity for your Hamline peers to use our services, so please cancel your appointment if you encounter scheduling conflicts. You can do this by logging in to the schedule, selecting your appointment, and selecting the cancel option at the bottom of the form that pops up. Students with two no-shows will be unable to schedule appointments and will need to contact us to have their accounts reinstated. 

You can schedule two appointments a day and 10 appointments a week. If you make two appointments for the same day, the schedule will require you to leave at least half an hour of time between them so you and your tutor can take a break.

We are happy to help alumni write resumes, cover letters, and graduate school application materials. We cannot assist alumni with personal writing projects or coursework for non-Hamline academic programs.

Students often write about difficult or controversial topics. The Writing and Communication Center seeks to foster an environment in which students can have fair, open-minded discussions of these topics, but we will not tolerate material or conversations that degrade anyone’s gender identity, gender expression, neurodivergence, sexual orientation, race, religious belief, physical appearance, ability, age, or other difference.

Furthermore, material you bring to the Writing and Communication Center—even if it seems harmless to you—might distress some tutors, especially if they are trauma survivors.

We reserve the right for tutors to end a session if the material or conversation is inappropriate or exceeds the tutor's bounds of comfort.

Please be advised that the Writing and Communication Center may share information with your professor about your appointment.

Edit your writing for you

We are not an editing service, so we will not simply fix your grammar, spelling, formatting, or citations. But we will gladly address any questions or concerns you have in those areas, so that you will be in a better position to correct or avoid such problems on your own.

Replace your professor

Your professors are expert sources of guidance, so please contact them if you are unsure of their expectations or are struggling with an assignment. We ask that you use the Writing and Communication Center along with—not in place of—faculty assistance.

Guarantee that we will read your work in advance

You are welcome to send us a draft in advance of your meeting. However, we cannot promise that the person you are working with will have time to read it before meeting with you. In general, you should expect that your draft will be read for the first time during the appointment itself.

Cover projects comprehensively in one appointment

We usually can review two to three pages in half an hour and four to six pages in an hour, depending on the depth of help you want and the complexity of the project. Addressing long or especially challenging projects usually requires multiple appointments.

Review work outside of scheduled hours

We are happy to work with you during our scheduled hours, but we cannot open early, close late, or meet on days we are closed. We offer appointments six days a week and at various times to ensure students can visit us even if they have a hectic class, work, and extracurricular schedule. If you cannot find an appointment time for the current week, please add yourself to the waiting list (you can find the link below each day on the schedule) or check the following week for openings.

Print for you

We have a limited budget, so we cannot print drafts, assignment sheets, or research materials for you. If you want to work from a paper copy of your project during your appointment, please come with it printed or use the printer near the WCC. Alternatively, you can bring your laptop or use one of the WCC’s desktops to access your project.

Predict grades

While we might praise areas where your project has improved, we will not predict a letter grade or score.

Know everything

If a tutor does not know the answer to your question or how to help with a project, they will research the answer with you, refer you to another staff member, or recommend you contact your professor for more guidance.