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About Us

Mission

The University Writing Center’s mission is to promote the value of writing across disciplines and outside academia to support campus writers and enhance approaches to writing.

To fulfill this goal we: 

  • Support students
    • Offer one-on-one consultations for any genre of writing (academic, creative, and professional), at any stage of the writing process.
    • Engage in discussions with writers of all levels about effective writing strategies, such as: reading aloud, understanding rhetorical context, and using audience-appropriate diction and tone. 
    • Host workshops, at the Writing Center and in-class, about the writing process and various topics in writing such as: personal statements, cover letters/resumes, incorporating evidence, formatting and citations.
  • Support faculty and staff
    • Collaborate with faculty on projects and workshops to incorporate and support writing in course curriculum.
    • Offer professional development workshops to faculty/staff about topics in pedagogy, as well as provide them feedback on project and assignment development. 
    • Provide professional staff and student employees with workshops to enhance clarity, concision, and other topics in their writing.  
  • Support the broader writing community
    • Create a welcoming environment that serves as a collaborative and inclusive space for students to develop as writers. 
    • Organize writing-related events, such as: writing-themed social events and writing retreats, which create meaningful connections with the campus community and encourage the exchange of diverse perspectives. 
    • Train staff through ongoing professional development such as: pre-semester orientations, bi-weekly staff meetings, Writing 110 (an upper-division tutor training course offered by the Merritt Writing Program), and attending regional and international professional conferences.

Who We Are

UWC Consultants are students from a variety of majors across campus. All consultants have passed WRI 10 and participate in a mandatory orientation at the beginning of the semester as well as ongoing professional development workshops throughout the year. Some have also completed WRI 110 (Tutoring in Writing).

Find out more about this semester’s team here.

History

The University Writing Center was borne out of partnership between the Library and the Merritt Writing Program. Informed by committee reports, program assessments, and research, the pilot writing center project was launched in 2014 with the goal of strengthening UC Merced’s campus culture around writing. 2017 was the first year the program had a full staff of peer writing consultants available to help UC Merced students with their writing projects.

Now a program within the Division of Undergraduate Education, the University Writing Center continues to collaborate with the Library, the Merritt Writing Program, and other constituents across campus to further develop a culture of writing at UC Merced.

Employment Opportunities

The UWC is always looking for enthusiastic and engaged students from all disciplines to join our team. Undergraduate aplicants must have completed WRI 10 and are highly encouraged to enroll in WRI 110. If you’re interested, contact us (writingcenter@ucmerced.edu) for the most recent information about application procedures and deadlines.