Writing Lab

The English Writing Lab

Welcome to the Arkansas Tech University Writing Lab. The Writing Lab’s mission is to help you become a better thinker, writer, and communicator. The Arkansas Tech University Writing Lab serves all currently enrolled students –on-campus, commuter, on-line, and high school concurrent students.

Writing Center Hours

  • The Writing Lab is in Witherspoon 365, and our hours are listed below.  You don’t need an appointment – just show up, sign in, and let the Writing Lab tutors know what you need help with.
    • In-person tutoring is offered Monday-Friday: 1-4 PM
  • The Writing Lab opens on the first day of classes and closes for all holidays, university closures, Winter Break, and Spring Break. The Writing Lab and Online Writing Lab close for the semester on Reading Day. Online submissions received before Reading Day will get a response.
  • The tutors are graduate students in the MA English, MLA, MA English w/ TESL option, or MA TESOL programs. There are usually 7  tutors each semester.
  • There should be at least two tutors scheduled to work each hour the Writing Lab is open.
  • Assignments submitted after the Writing Lab business hours above will be reviewed once the lab reopens.

STUDENT INFORMATION

For ENGL 0303 Composition Workshop and ENGL 1013 Composition I students, our tutors can help you master basic description, narrative, argument, compare and contrast, classification, and any other essay forms your instructor assigns from the current Composition I textbook. We’ll work with you on principles of good writing and the writing process.

For ENGL 1023 Composition II students writing the literary analysis essays, we’ll help with thesis statements, topic sentences, and textual/analytical evidence and logic to produce clearly written presentations of the paper’s ideas. Tutors may also be able to assist with library research tools as well as MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style use.

Please note: Tutors cover aspects of grammar, citation, sentence structure, and fundamentals of English emphasized in our courses. However, they are not a proofreading service and should not be expected to find/fix every grammar error in the essays. They are expected to discuss the errors, suggest corrections, and show/remind students how to find/fix the errors independently.

Any other Tech students working on writing assignments for any course are welcome to visit the Writing Lab or submit it to the Online Writing Lab. Tutors can also help with

  • Resumé language review
  • Lab reports
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Bibliographies
  • Writing portfolios

Note for all students: All Writing Lab submissions must include assignments or instructions, and the submission(s) must be most of a draft, if not a complete draft. For classes requiring multiple submissions throughout the semester, tutors will only review a completed essay once unless the essay has undergone significant revision and will not be required to review resubmissions of a single essay assignment multiple times to meet any course requirements for Writing Lab visits/submissions.

Tutors may also contact instructors in cases where a student submits duplicates of a single essay assignment, plagiarized work, AI content, or papers listed as late according to the assignment instructions.

**The Online Writing Lab is checked daily during business hours. However, Blackboard will not alert students once their paper receives a review/comment. As such, students who submit are expected to revisit the semester’s journal where they submit the work to check for reviews and attached comments.**

For more information regarding the services available through the English Department's Writing Lab, contact Kayla Chambliss.