The Oberlin College Writing and Speaking Associates Program offers a dynamic space for students to think critically, be creative, and collaborate with their peers.
Discover how to work with a Writing Associate after March 30
We are committed to providing students with opportunities to learn and work in ways that best fit their needs. Visit us in the Academic Commons in the Terrell Main Library in Mudd Center.
We now offer the ability to schedule 30-minute meetings with writing associates ahead of time, in addition to our drop-in hours. Schedule a meeting using our appointments page .
Note: We uphold a 24-hour scheduling and or cancellation policy for all appointments. Missing three meetings without cancelling 24 hours in advance will render one unable to use the appointments system in the future.
Questions? Contact:
Laurie McMillin, director, Writing Associates Program
Peri Leavitt, Writing Associate fellow
The Writing Center provides free drop-in writing consultation 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 a private one-on-one writing session throughout the semester.
Students can visit the Writing Center for a session at any stage of their writing process. Writing associates can assist students early in their writing process by helping to clarify prompts and assignments, brainstorm ideas and topics, or develop research strategies. Associates also can help students in the drafting and revising stage of their assignment by providing advice on paragraph organization, idea and argument coherence, among many other issues. Students at the end of the writing process can also bring in their papers for help in sentence-level corrections and editing for flow and clarity.
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.
Hours
- 2–5 p.m., Monday through Friday
- 7–11 p.m., Sunday through Thursday
Spring 2020 Schedule (coming soon)
Sunday
7-8 p.m.: Emma, Erik, Arman, Lee
8-9 p.m.: Emma, Erik, Arman, Leo
9-10 p.m.: Leo, Britt, Chloe
10-11 p.m.: Leo, Britt, Will
Monday
2-3 p.m.: Grace, Nia
3-4 p.m.: Grace, Arman
4-5 p.m.: Chloe, Lucy, Arman
7-8 p.m.: Emily, Sun, Lucy
8-9 p.m.: Emily, Julia, Lucy
9-10 p.m.: Emily, Julia, Hannah
10-11 p.m.: Alex, Casey, Eleda
Tuesday
2-3 p.m.: Leo, Erik
3-4 p.m.: Ilana, Momo
4-5 p.m.: Emma, Sun, Momo
7-8 p.m.: Chloe, Emily, Lucy
8-9 p.m.: Julia, Emily, Lucy
9-10 p.m.: Julia, Hannah, Zach
10-11 p.m.: Arman, Casey, Zach
Wednesday
2-3 p.m.: Casey, Eleda, Alex
3-4 p.m.: Arman, Eleda, Alex
4-5 p.m.: Lucy, Alex
7-8 p.m.: Lee, Ava, Sabrina
8-9 p.m.: Hannah, Sun, Chloe
9-10 p.m.: Hannah, Sun, Britt
10-11 p.m.: Hannah, Zach, Britt
Thursday
2-3 p.m.: Erik, Sun, Emma
3-4 p.m.: Julia, Chloe, Emma
4-5 p.m.: Grace, Chloe, Emma
7-8 p.m.: Alex, Will, Casey
8-9 p.m.: Alex, Lee, Casey
9-10 p.m.: Will, Lee, Leo, Casey
10-11 pm.: Will, Lee, Leo, Hannah
Friday
2-3 p.m.: Grace, Erik, Momo
3-4 p.m.: Britt, Erik, Zach
4-5 p.m.: Emily, Britt, Nia
The Oberlin Writing Associates Program holds Writing Center hours at satellite locations in Afrikan Heritage House and the Science Center. Both satellite writing tables provide free drop-in writing consultations for students working on academic assignments for any class and on any topic. Student writing associates staff the satellite writing tables and welcome all writers to a private one-on-one writing session throughout the semester. Students can visit these locations at any stage of the writing process.
Afrikan Heritage House
Located in Lord Saunders library, the writing table is staffed by POC writing associates.
Hours: Sundays, 3-5 and 7-10 p.m.
For more information, send an email to Nia Lewis at nlewis@oberlin.edu or Iesha Phillips at iphillip@oberlin.edu
Science Center
Located outside classroom A155, the Science Center writing table is staffed by writing associates with experience in science writing. These associates are STEM majors who can help with both specialized science writing and more generalized academic prose.
Hours: Sundays and Thursdays, 7-10 p.m.
For more information, send an email to Zach Taylor at ztaylor@oberlin.edu
The Speaking Center is a pilot program launched in 2016 with the goal to support students in their speaking endeavors and instill 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.
To that end, we offer one-on-one Speaking Center sessions, where students are able to work with a trained peer speaking associate on all parts of the presentation process.
In addition, we offer a range of workshops throughout the year on speaking in both academic and professional settings, such as conference presentations or job interviews. If you are interested in this, send email to Cortney Smith, csmith5@oberlin.edu for more details.
Hours
7–9 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday
Location
The Writing Center is in the Terrell Main Library in Mudd Center. It occupies space on the first level just off the Academic Commons next to the CIT office.
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 work as a writing or speaking associate state that it is both a rewarding and empowering experience for themselves and the students who seek their assistance. Some students have used their training in rhetoric and composition to jumpstart their endeavors post Oberlin.