Successful Submissions to the Writing Center’s Paper Review Service: Four Tips to Streamline the Process > Robin Gray Nicks

Submitting papers to the Writing Center can be a daunting task for students. We have a set of guidelines for submissions on the Writing Center’s main page, but students may not know that they are there. When instructors refer students to the Writing Center, they can help their students receive even more helpful and effective feedback by simply providing the following tips to their students.

First, it’s important for students to submit from their Kaplan emails. Other accounts occasionally report our emails as junk mail or spam. Using their Kaplan account ensures that they will receive their reviewed papers quickly and successfully. If instructors would remind students of this as they’re referring students, more students are likely to remember to take this important step.Second, it’s helpful for tutors to know the course for which students are submitting papers. Identifying the course name and number (CM225, KU121, etc.) in their emails and on the papers themselves will ensure that the feedback we give is appropriate for the course and program objectives. If an instructor is referring a student, she or he could simply remind the student to include this information.

Third, students who include the assignment instructions with their submission ensure that tutors are thinking about the specific aims and requirements of the assignment as we give feedback. That way, we know just what the content of the essay should be, if it needs a particular format (memo, outline, etc.), and the level of development necessary. The feedback will be more in line with the assignment aims when we have the instructions. It will also help us avoid giving erroneous feedback about the structure of the assignment.

Finally, it’s always helpful to know if the instructor has indicated any particular problem areas in the student’s writing. When I pick up a paper that tells me that the writer has had problems with citation formatting in previous papers, I know to pay close attention to that and to provide more detail in my comments about how to correct the errors that I find. If I receive a paper that tells me that the instructor has previously indicated that the writer needs more development, I know to provide more details in my feedback about how and where to develop more fully the content of the submitted paper.

Providing this information takes little time from the student and will dramatically increase the helpfulness of the feedback the student receives. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve had to guess about the aims of the assignment and whether the format and tone were appropriate. Many times, I’ve suggested that students check with the instructor to find out if what they’ve written is appropriate for the assignment and course.

Doing just these four things will streamline the process for all involved, ensuring that students receive the most helpful instruction possible from our Writing Center Paper Submission Service.

[This article was originally published in our June, 2009 issue.]