SWS Resources for Instructors
Our surveys show that more students use Student Writing Support because of their instructors' advice than for any other reason. Your support of our services is vital, and we greatly appreciate it. In addition to class visits, here are some materials to help you introduce SWS to your students.
Class visits (via Zoom)
At your request, a consultant from SWS will visit the start or end of your class meeting (via Zoom) and provide a 5-minute introduction to Student Writing Support: what it is, how and when students might want to use it, and how it can be part of the larger ecosystem of writing support they get at the U, including your own instruction and feedback. If you would like to arrange a visit, please fill out this Google form, Requesting a 5-minute class visit via Zoom from Student Writing Support. In general, we need at least one week’s notice to be able to schedule a visit—but we will happily attempt to meet demand for sooner visits, too.
Text that may be used in your syllabus
Student Writing Support (SWS) offers collaborative one-to-one writing consultations to help student writers develop confidence and effective writing strategies. Writing consultants will listen to writers' goals and concerns, read and respond to their written work, pose questions that help them clarify and articulate their ideas, and affirm the experiences and abilities that they bring to their writing. SWS values writers' life experiences and languages, and SWS seeks to provide a supportive space for them to share and develop their voices.
Consultants work with writers at any stage of the writing process, such as brainstorming and organizing ideas, developing a thesis statement or line of argument, creating cohesive paragraphs, revising sentences, and documenting sources. A consultation is often focused on a specific assignment or writing task, with the goal of supporting writers as they develop more effective and productive writing strategies to apply to future writing projects.
For Spring 2024, consultations will be widely available by appointment in 15 Nicholson Hall, Zoom, and SWS.online, as well as walk-ins in 9 Appleby Hall. For more information, go to writing.umn.edu/sws.
In addition, SWS offers a number of writing resources on topics such as avoiding plagiarism, documenting sources, and planning and completing a writing project.
SWS policies that you need to know about
Because we are an elective resource that relies on student collaboration and trust, we cannot accommodate “required” appointments nor provide instructors with proof that student visits have taken place. Instructors who would like to offer students extra credit for working with an SWS consultant might ask their students to summarize what happened during the session.
Multilingual students
- Student Writing Support for Multilingual Writers informational video.
- Voices of Minnesota’s Multilingual Writers: brief videos in which multilingual writers at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities share their insights about learning to write American academic English.
- ARTICLES: Choosing a/an, the, or nothing (Ø) with common nouns self-study module.
Instructional consultations and web resources for teaching with writing
All instructors are encouraged to visit the Teaching with Writing (TWW) portion of this site, which contains a wealth of resources that help instructors effectively incorporate writing into their courses. Professional teaching consultants are available to meet individually with instructors about all aspects of teaching with writing.
Additional resources for instructors at UMN
- Writing Resources for Instructors Working with Multilingual Students
- We have received an increasing number of questions from instructors regarding pronoun use. Check out our Quicktip on Nonbinary Gender Pronouns.
- Incorporating Names and Pronouns into Your Courses, a document developed by the Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life & the Center for Educational Innovation