Writing Associates Program and the Writing Center
The Oberlin College Writing Associates Program offers a dynamic space for students to think critically, be creative, and collaborate with their peers.
Writing Associates come from many majors and are eager to listen and help writers reach their goals, whether they connect through the Writing Center or through a class with a designated Course Writing Associate.
For updates about the Writing and Speaking Center follow us on Instagram @ocwritingcenter and like us on Facebook!
Writing and Speaking Centers Are Open!
The Writing and Speaking Centers will open for the spring semester on February 3.
The Writing Center is in-person. We are located in the back of first floor Terrell Library. You can either make an appointment in advance or drop-in to see a Writing Associate during our available hours.
The Speaking Center is in-person. We are located in Mudd 112A, Terrell Library. We are open on Sundays through Thursdays. You can either make an appointment in advance or drop-in to see a Speaking Associate during our hours.
Please go to WCOnline to book appointments and check our hours!
The Writing Center provides free drop-in writing consultation and appointments for students working on academic assignments for any class and on any topic. The center is staffed by student Writing Associates and welcomes all writers to one-on-one writing sessions throughout the semester.
Writing Associates can assist students at any stage in the writing process!
Beginning Stage
- Clarifying prompts and assignments
- Brainstorming ideas and topics
- Developing research strategies
Drafting and Revising Stage
- Paragraph organization
- Idea and argument coherence
End Stage
- Sentence-level corrections
- Support with flow and clarity
- Citations
The Writing Center will remain open through the last day of reading period. The Writing Center is closed during fall break, spring break, Thanksgiving break, exam periods, winter term, and summer.
Are you interested in working in the Writing Center?
The application to become a Writing Associate for the fall '25 semester is now open! You can apply at this link. Please direct questions to owap@oberlin.edu.
Thank you for your interest!
The Speaking Center provides free drop-in and appointment based speaking consultation for students working on academic presentations, speeches, interviews, class discussions, and more. The Speaking Center is staffed by Writing Associates trained in public speaking pedagogy.
We also offer a range of workshops throughout the year on speaking in both academic and professional settings, such as conference presentations and job interviews. If you are interested in a workshop for your class or the campus, send email to Cortney Smith, csmith5@oberlin.edu for more details.
Our History
The Speaking Center was launched in 2016 with the goal of supporting students in their speaking endeavors and instilling a sense of confidence in their ability to communicate. We want students to become more conscious and conscientious speakers. We seek to accomplish this through sparking a critical dialogue on campus that further develops student understanding of audience, purpose, and context, as it applies to both the academic and professional conversation.
Benefits of Working with an Associate
We like to think of our associates as ‘informed outsiders.’ They’re able to ask probing questions and get students to think about the style of the genre that they’re writing in.
Frances Purcell ’18 , Writing Associate Fellow
Students who participate as Writing or Speaking Associates through the Podis Writing Pedagogy Fellowship state that the experience is rewarding and empowering for both themselves and the students they work with. Many WAs have used their experience in writing pedagogy to jumpstart their endeavors post-Oberlin.