We open the door for all students to comfortably receive guidance to produce the best work they can. Bring in a draft, bring in an idea: we can help. We support the entire writing process from idea generation to final revision by helping you articulate and meet goals for your writing, brainstorming ideas, re-working or expanding upon drafts, and encouraging self-editing techniques. While we are not proofreaders or editors, we are ready to you every step of the way.

We can help you with:

• Class essays
• Research papers
• Master's theses
• Dissertations
• Resumes / Curriculum Vitae (CVs)
• Employment / internship applications
• Statement of Purpose essays
• Student Research Symposium papers

In preparation for your appointment, please make sure to have a copy of your assignment you can share with us, and if possible a copy of the rubric you are using as well. Please visit us throughout your writing process as it makes revisions easier!

We provide a supportive environment where students from all disciplines can receive public speaking and presentation guidance from a qualified peer tutor. Our consultants can help individuals or groups plan and design presentations and presentation recordings.

We can help you practice, review and refine your work, and provide constructive feedback from an impartial audience. We can help with: 

• Oral Presentations
• Thesis/Dissertation defense
• Conference talks
• Poster presentations 

We recommend to make an appointment well in advance of your presentation or defense, and to schedule multiple appointments (practice makes perfect!). To prepare for an appointment, consider printing copies of your presentation for our feedback. 

The WCL offers numerous services for graduate students. Below, we’ve listed just a few. Please feel free to contact us about any of these resources or just to chat about other ways that we might help you as you work toward your degree.

• Graduate Communication Courses

Dr. Steve Simpson offers a 3-credit graduate communication course every fall semester, which is perfect for students looking for an introduction to graduate-level writing and presenting or for a structured environment for writing portions of a thesis or dissertation (COMM 575: Communication in the Sciences). This course is designed for both native and non-native English speakers!

Furthermore, the CLASS Department offers a number of advanced technical communication and humanities courses that can be taken at the graduate level. Please see our Graduate Programs page for more details.

• ESL Support

We offer a variety of services for non-native English speakers, from one-on-one consultations on writing and oral presentations to support for improving conversational English. Please come visit us for more information on how we can help you.

The STEM Fellows are NMT graduate students who help staff the Writing and Oral Presentation Center. They are chosen based on their excellent skills in communication and are trained in working one-on-one with students on scientific and academic writing and presenting. Fellows also work closely with faculty and students from academic departments all over campus. Some of their duties include one-one-one or group writing consultations within the writing center and providing services to home departments, such as setting up writing groups and seminars. 

STEM Fellows are available to work with students in Distance Education graduate programs. To set up a distance consultation, email us at [email protected] or use our WCOnline Appointment System. 

In collaboration with the Office for Student Learning and the Skeen Library, we offer workshops to help students prepare for the Student Research Symposium each year. These include abstract writing, research poster design, oral presentation and 3-minute speech workshops. Please consult the SRS webpage to access workshop recordings and other important information about the event! 

We also offer free poster printing services for students who present at the SRS and book a poster design consultation with us. This semester, the deadline for poster printing is Friday, April 14th, at 5.00 PM. The WCL will have extended hours of operation from April 1st to April 14th, 2023. To book a poster design consultation, click here. 

Additional resources: 

• SRS Poster Guidelines
• SRS Poster Checklist
• Designing Figures to Enhance your project
• SRS Oral Presentation Guidelines
• SRS 3-Minute Speech Guidelines

If you have questions about any of the Writing Lab services, you can connect with us at [email protected] or in person when the WCL is open (1st floor, Skeen Library). We are also posting announcements and updates on our Instagram page (@nmtwritinglab)!