SWS Practices & Policies

Student Writing Support offers consultations in four “locations”: in-person in Room 15 of 216 Pillsbury Drive SE (formerly Nicholson Hall), in-person in Room 9 of Appleby Hall, online in Zoom, and online in SWS-chat. Every writer has priority for one visit per location per day. In SWS, “priority” means that you can reserve a same-day appointment, or that you can have a walk-in visit on a first-come, first-served basis. Here’s what that policy means in practice:

• It is possible for a writer to have priority for up to four visits in a day! You could have an appointment in Room 15 at 216 Pillsbury Drive, a walk-in visit in 9 Appleby Hall, an appointment in SWS-chat, and an appointment in Zoom, all in one day.
• Writers do not have priority for more than one visit in a location on a given day. We have this policy so that we can meet demand by as many students as possible for visits in a particular location. If you would like a second visit in the same location, you can get on a waitlist.
  • For our by-appointment locations (216 Pillsbury Drive, Zoom, and SWS-chat), waitlisted writers without visit priority may be offered any available appointment that is scheduled to start within the next 5 minutes.
  • For our walk-in location (Appleby Hall), newly arriving writers with visit priority will always be placed ahead of waiting writers who have already had a visit in Appleby that day.
• Writers may not have multiple same-day visits with the same consultant (regardless of location). This policy exists in order to create sustainable conditions for consultants, allowing them to do their best work. The exception to this policy is when longer visits are necessary for accessibility. Please contact Dr. Katie Levin ([email protected]) if your access needs can best be met by longer visits.

If you are more than 5 minutes late for a consultation in 216PillsDr room 15 or Zoom, you risk losing your appointment to another student. If you cannot attend your appointment, please log in to mySWS. If you do not cancel, the appointment will be labeled a “no-show.” Multiple no-shows will affect your access to SWS services. 

SWS consultants will

• Address your questions about clarity in your writing: “I am not sure if this paragraph makes sense. Is it clear to you?”
• Discuss your concerns about structure and organization: “I have all these ideas for the paper, but I am not sure how well they work together.”
• Model revision and editing strategies: “How can I make my sentences clearer and more direct?”
• Help you get started on an assignment: “I have to do a literature review, but I don’t know where to start. How can I approach this assignment?”
• Teach you how to proofread: “My instructor told me that I have a lot of passive voice in this paper. What does it look like so I can fix it?”
• Direct you to other writing resources: “Is there a book or website that can teach me how to properly cite things in a Psychology paper?”
• Support you in getting some writing done during the session: “Can you just sit with me and make me write for the next 40 minutes?”
• Provide you an opportunity to reflect on the session: “How will I apply what I learned today to my writing in the future?”

SWS consultants will not

• Write your paper, or tell you what to write: “How would you answer this prompt?”
• Read your course materials for you: “What would you say if you were asked to reflect on this article?”
• Tell you what your instructor wants: “Will my instructor like what I have written here?”
• Evaluate or guarantee a grade for your paper: “Will this get me an A?"
• Confirm or refute GenAI usage: “Can you help me prove that I didn’t use ChatGPT for this paper?”

The sign-in list gives priority to writers who have not had a consultation in Appleby that day.

Students may join the sign-in list remotely by visiting z.umn.edu/Applebywaitlist. If they are in 9 Appleby Hall when their name reaches the top of the list, their visit will take place in person. (If they are not in 9 Appleby Hall when their name reaches the top of the list, consultants will skip to the next person.)

At 2:05 pm, the sign-in list will stop accepting new names.

Student Writing Support will not verify or discuss your session with your instructors, nor will consultants provide signatures to verify a visit. If you would like to share information about your consultations with your instructor, you may want to complete our Student Reflection Form after your session (form is also available in 216PillsDr room 15 and Appleby room 9.) If your instructors require verification, please direct them to our SWS Resources for Instructors page.

Due to limited resources, Student Writing Support can only work with writers who are currently enrolled as students at the University of Minnesota. Consultants cannot work with a writer who accesses our services using another student’s U of MN internet ID, and students who attempt to do so may lose access to SWS services. Using another student’s identity, even with their permission, is a violation of Section VI of the Student Conduct Code (italics added):

Subd. 3. Falsification. Falsification means willfully providing University offices or officials with false, misleading, or incomplete information; forging or altering without proper authorization official University records or documents or conspiring with or inducing others to forge or alter without proper authorization University records or documents; misusing, altering, forging, falsifying, or transferring to another person University-issued identification; or intentionally making a false report of a bomb, fire, natural disaster, or other emergency to a University official or an emergency service agency.

Subd. 4. Refusal to Identify and Comply. Refusal to identify and comply means willfully refusing to or falsely identifying one’s self or willfully failing to comply with a proper order or summons when requested by an authorized University official, by law enforcement personnel, or by emergency medical staff responding to an emergency.

Subd. 13. Unauthorized Use of University Facilities or Services. Unauthorized use of University facilities or services means wrongfully using University properties or facilities; misusing, altering, or damaging fire-fighting equipment, safety devices, or other emergency equipment or interfering with the performance of those specifically charged to carry out emergency services; or acting to obtain fraudulently—through deceit, unauthorized procedures, bad checks, or misrepresentation—goods, quarters, services, or funds from University departments or student organizations or individuals acting on their behalf.

Student Writing Support is not a confidential resource. Like other UMN employees, SWS consultants are mandated reporters with respect to the UMN policy on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Relationship Violence (collectively called sexual misconduct). If employees learn about sexual misconduct in the course of an interaction with a writer, they are required to report it to the Title IX Office. For more details, visit the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action's Employee Reporting Requirement page.