Yes. Writing advisors are very rarely available to take drop-in appointments, so it is always best to schedule ahead of time. We recommend booking a week or more in advance, especially during busy times of the semester, as appointments book up quickly. Many students use their course syllabus to schedule multiple appointments as needed throughout the semester. Unneeded appointments can be cancelled without a penalty with 24-hours' notice. Students can book, cancel, and manage their own appointments via mySuccess (see also: how to book or how to cancel an appointment). Students should also note that our posted hours are subject to change due to workshops and meetings. All students seeking support should book an appointment.
No. Writing Support maintains a once-per-day, twice-per-week, 25-minutes-per-appointment policy in order to ensure that we can provide service to as many students as possible. We are a busy service and must follow this policy in order to ensure fairness in terms of access. While your paper may be longer than we can address in one or two appointments, the goal of the service is not to assess the entire document; instead, we will coach you through common grammatical and structural issues so that you can apply these skills to the rest of your assignment.
Due to the popularity of our service, we must maintain a strict limit of two appointments per week per student. That means that students may not use a friend or colleague's account to book an appointment. The student who books the appointment in their name must be the person in attendance and may only receive assistance with their own work.
Our support is tutorial in nature: we are not a proofreading service. Our goal is to provide you with the tools to become your own proofreader by explaining the issues you may be having with your writing and how to rectify them. While our advisors will provide suggestions on a portion of your document, their aim is to help you improve as a writer, not to simply improve your writing.
Yes. Writing Support is available to all current students at the University of Windsor, regardless of level of study or discipline. However, we do not offer support to instructors, staff members, or community members, though instructors/staff can contact us about providing in-class workshops for their students.
The Office of Career Development & Experiential Learning can provide assistance for these kinds of documents. Students can book appointments for consultations with this office via mySuccess. However, the Writing Support Desk only offers support for academic assignments and does not assist with any personal writing, including job-related documents. For academic applications and proposals, please speak to your academic referee for guidance.
Yes. However, as per Bylaw 31, we can only help you with a take-home exam if you can provide the express written permission of your instructor. To obtain permission, email your instructor requesting permission, copy/CC the Writing Support Desk (writingsupport@uwindsor.ca), and ask that your instructor 'Reply All' with their response. Proof of permission via a course syllabus or Brightspace is also acceptable. Permission must be obtained before an appointment can proceed. Students who do not obtain permission in advance of their appointments will not be able to access support with their take-home exams.
Yes. If you are in a creative writing class or have been assigned a creative writing assignment for any course, Writing Support can help. Several of our advisors have backgrounds in creative writing and would be happy to provide feedback on creative work in a course context. For non-course related creative work, the Department of English hosts the writer-in-residence program, through which a professional writer provides consultations with students and community members regarding their creative writing projects.
Yes. While we welcome group assignments, we limit the number of group members present at each appointment to three people in order to avoid crowding our workspace. The person who booked the appointment in their name must be present at the group appointment. The writing advisor will work with each group member on the portion of the assignment that they contributed. If a group member is not present, the writing advisor will not address their portion of the project.
Yes, but only if you receive permission from your advisor.
Whether you are just starting your assignment or have almost completed it, coming to your appointment prepared is a must. Generally, it is a good idea to have print or online access to your assignment prompt/rubric/instructions as well as any work you've already done on the assignment. We recommend emailing your work in advance of your appointment to writingsupport@uwindsor.ca (.doc or .docx only) or bringing it on a USB drive in order to make the most of your appointment time.
All WSD apointments and workshops will be conducted either online or in-person. Please see our homepage for more details.
No. Writing Support appointments take place in-person at Leddy Library on the University of Windsor's main campus or online via MS Teams. We do not provide support via email, although our Brightspace page and website provide a variety of self-serve web resources that students may find useful.
To avoid plagiarizing in written work, students should ensure that they appropriately cite all ideas that rely on the work of others. The Writing Support Desk provides citation workshops and help with citation and paraphrasing via our one-on-one consultations as well as resources on our website. We are also launching self-guided modules via Blackboard that students can use to familiarize themselves with academic integrity and best practices. There is no 'plagiarism checker' available to students as these types of technology are designed only to assist instructors in identifying potential issues in student work.
Yes. The Writing Support Desk staff are in the process of digitizing our workshops into video tutorials in order to make them available to students at their own convenience. These are available on our website under Video Tutorials as well as on the WSD Blackboard page. Check back often for updates and additional tutorial availability.
No. Currently, the use of ChatGPT and other AI-generated content is not classified as plagiarism because it generates new content, not copied content.
However, AI-generated content could be an academic integrity violation, depending on specific course instructions on its use.
Please be advised the WSD will not advise on AI-generated writing.
If you have further questions about the services of the Writing Support Desk, please feel free to contact us via email at writingsupport@uwindsor.ca.