Get a Writing Consultation

Primarily by appointment 

Consultations in 15 Nicholson Hall are by appointment. These sessions are typically 40 minutes long. Writers may also be able to walk in at this location. Check in with the attendant at the front desk to get on the waitlist for a walk-in visit.

Hours: 

Mondays–Thursdays, 9:45 am to 3:45 pm

To schedule your 40-minute appointment, log into mySWS or call 612.625.1893 during those hours.

What is an in-person consultation like?

• Nicholson Hall location: Let the front desk attendant know that you've arrived for your appointment.
• Appleby Hall location: Walk-in consultations in Appleby Hall take place on a first-come, first-served basis. You sign in on a digital waitlist when you arrive in 9 Appleby Hall, and consultants will work with writers in the order they arrived. Typically, there are between 3–5 consultants at any given time.
• You can bring a draft with you, but it’s also fine if you don’t have anything written at all yet!
• You won’t share or send anything ahead of time; instead, your consultant will read anything you share during the consultation.

What to bring

• A copy of the writing you want to work on or any ideas you have for your project.
• Any materials that will help your consultant understand the context of your writing project. These might include the assignment sheet, the syllabus, in-class notes, previous drafts or feedback on your writing, or any other materials you think it would be helpful to share with the consultant.
• A pen and paper to take notes from the session.

Lab & printing

The computer lab and study space, funded by a generous grant from the CLA Student Information Technology Fees Committee. For printing, we accept UCards only, charging ten cents per page. You can add money to your Ucard at a cash-to-Gopher-Gold station or online (for a $2.00 fee). Note: If you come to Nicholson Hall for a consultation, the consultant can print your paper for free.

Walk-ins only

At 9 Appleby Hall, consultants hold face-to-face sessions on a first come, first served basis. If all consultants are busy, please check in at the sign-in computer (to your left as you enter the room). These walk-in sessions are typically 40 minutes long. In order to keep our services open to as many students as possible, we give priority to students who have not had a consultation earlier in the day.

Writing consultants work on a regular schedule; to see who works when in Appleby, log in to mySWS and click on "view walk-in schedules." To learn more about all of our consultants, visit our consultant bios page.

Hours:

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

What is an in-person consultation like?

• Nicholson Hall location: Let the front desk attendant know that you've arrived for your appointment.
• Appleby Hall location: Walk-in consultations in Appleby Hall take place on a first-come, first-served basis. You sign in on a digital waitlist when you arrive in 9 Appleby Hall, and consultants will work with writers in the order they arrived. Typically, there are between 3–5 consultants at any given time.
• You can bring a draft with you, but it’s also fine if you don’t have anything written at all yet!
• You won’t share or send anything ahead of time; instead, your consultant will read anything you share during the consultation.

What to bring

• A copy of the writing you want to work on or any ideas you have for your project.
• Any materials that will help your consultant understand the context of your writing project. These might include the assignment sheet, the syllabus, in-class notes, previous drafts or feedback on your writing, or any other materials you think it would be helpful to share with the consultant.
• A pen and paper to take notes from the session.

By appointment

To make, cancel, or reschedule your face-to-face virtual appointment (40 minutes long), visit mySWS. We recommend using Google Chrome as your browser; other browsers (Safari, Microsoft Edge, and even Firefox) have limited compatibility with our web and Zoom tools.

1. After you log in to mySWS with your University of Minnesota credentials, click the "Make an Appointment" menu item at the top of the page.
2. Choose the "make a Zoom appointment" option (under the Zoom logo).

Pro tip: We often have immediate openings in Zoom! Check mySWS frequently or visit the virtual front desk during Zoom hours.

Hours:

• Mondays – Thursdays, 9:45 am – 3:45 pm

• Monday, June 5 – Thursday, July 27

• All locations of Student Writing Support will reopen on Tuesday, September 3.

What is a Zoom consultation like?

• All Zoom consultations are by appointment through mySWS.
• You can have a draft ready, but it’s also fine if you don’t have anything written at all yet!
• You won’t upload anything ahead of time; instead, your consultant will read anything you share during the consultation.
• Zoom consultations can last up to 40 minutes.

How to get to your Zoom appointment

1. A few minutes before your appointment, please log in at mySWS and go to your Access My Visits page. 
2. Find your appointment in the table. 
3. Click anywhere in the row that contains your appointment details. When you do so, a “Join Zoom meeting” button will appear at the bottom of the page. 
4. Click the button to join the Zoom meeting. 
5. You will need to wait a few minutes. Don’t worry—the consultant will join you soon. (Zoom needs time to catch up with the mySWS system.)

What to bring to your Zoom consultation

• Acopy of the writing you want to work on, or any ideas you have for your project (it's great to use SWS for brainstorming and organizing—no draft required!)
• Any materials that will help your consultant understand the context of your writing project. These might include the assignment sheet, the syllabus, in-class notes, previous drafts or feedback on your writing, or any other materials you think it would be helpful to share with the consultant.
• A way to take notes from the session.

By appointment only

To schedule your 40-minute appointment, visit mySWS.

Pro tip: We often have last-minute openings in SWS.online! For evening appointments, begin checking mySWS at 3:45 pm Central Time for new openings!

Hours

• Mondays–Thursdays: Daytime and evening appointments.

• Fridays: Daytime appointments.

Check mySWS for availability.

What is an SWS.online consultation like?

• All SWS.online consultations are by appointment through mySWS, and they require you to keep track of two times: (1) the deadline to submit your writing and your questions/concerns about it, and (2) the time you will meet with the consultant for your 40-minute online chat.
• After you submit your writing, the consultant will have 40 minutes to read it in preparation for your chat appointment. 
• During your scheduled SWS.online chat, your consultant will give you feedback, answer questions, and collaborate with you through a chatbox next to your document. (There is no audio or video component.)
• At the end of your consultation, you will receive a transcript of your chat to keep for yourself.

Like our face-to-face consultations, online appointments are collaborative, student-centered conversations about writing.

But unlike in a face-to-face consultation, where consultants read and discuss your paper when you arrive, you will provide your writing ahead of time to the consultant—this is required to keep your appointment. The consultant will read and make an initial response to your writing. Then, you will meet with the consultant to discuss your document in depth.

SWS.online consultations sometimes have the added benefit of helping you write more during your consultation. Since the chat with the consultant involves explaining your ideas through writing, it can generate more useful material for you to incorporate in your writing project. For example, you might find that you write the perfect topic sentence in your chat with the consultant, and since you can download the chat transcript after your appointment, you can then save that writing and copy/paste it into your paper. 

How to make an SWS.online appointment

1. In mySWS, make an appointment for an SWS.online chat and provide your writing (at least 1,000 characters) and your specific questions.
2. Before your SWS.online chat, a writing consultant will read and respond to your document.
3. By 45 minutes before your SWS.online chat, you will be able to read the consultant’s initial comments on mySWS.
4. You and the consultant will discuss your document in a 40-minute SWS.online chat. In this collaborative online conversation, you and the consultant can address your questions and concerns, talk through revisions, and strategize about what to do next. You will need to use Firefox for this appointment.     

More Help

• How to use SWS.online: Step by step
• Have questions about the process or timing of your SWS.online appointment?
• Having technical issues using SWS.online?

 My SWS: schedule, manage, and access your SWS visits