Writing Tutoring

The Writing Center is a positive environment where students can get assistance with any project in any discipline or course. For example, some students seek help with citation and others need help getting started. 

Here are some other recommended resources on campus:

• Content: Check with the Tutoring Center or ask your professor.
• Research: Visit the Greenley Library.
• Resumes and Cover Letters: The Nexus Center
• Academic Skills: Academic Coaching

Services are available only to currently enrolled students. At this point, we do not offer services to alumni, community members outside of Farmingdale, or other local schools.  

We are located in Greenley Hall, 318 accessible by the elevator and located near the third floor men's bathroom. 

We follow the academic calendar. The Writing Center hours are posted and updated on our website. When the College is closed and classes are not in session, the Writing Center is also closed. 

The Writing Center follows all emergency and weather-related closures issued by the College. Please check here for information and updates. 

All appointments are made through Bookings and must include your FSC email address and RAM ID. Appointments can be scheduled, modified, and canceled directly in Bookings. 

Identification is checked upon arrival the Writing Center. Students without identification will be asked to reschedule their appointment. 

Tutoring appointments are 35-45 minutes but booked for 60 minutes to allow for the tutor to complete the summary form. 

Students are allowed (3) writing appointments per business week. 

We are a busy Center and in demand during high volume hours and times in the semester, like midterms and finals. It is recommended to book in advance to guarantee your preferred time and date. 

Please call the Center at 934-420-2082. 

You may cancel your appointment 24 hours in advance via the email confirmation from Bookings.  For appointment cancellations after 24 hours, you must call the Center at 934-420-2082. 

Please note that chronic cancellations will result in loss of tutoring privileges. 

Students will be marked as no-show after 15 minutes. If you call in advance, you may still attend the appointment with the remaining time left. Extended time cannot be granted. 

It is recommended to make an appointment. You may still walk-in and request an appointment. We may schedule you at a later time or, if a tutor is available, schedule you immediately.

Tutoring sessions are not conducted while a student is in class or attending another meeting.

For online appointments, we highly recommend a private, distraction-reduced area if possible. 

Writing tutors can work with any writing project including presentations and lab reports. For content-specific tutoring, please use the Tutoring Center. 

No, you can come in at any point! Simply bring your ideas or questions, and a Writing Tutor can help you talk these questions and ideas out before writing a paper. We help students with brainstorming and creating outlines. We can help you go from thought to page. 

Students must obtain written instructor approval to work on a midterm or exam. Written approvals may be sent to the Director at Alicia Brienza

The Writing Center is available to help you develop the skills and strategies for writing your own work. Using AI is similar to copying and pasting from Wikipedia, using a translator, or asking a friend to write your paper. 

Ultimately, to be successful in college and in the future, we want to help you improve your own written work, because that is who we care about the most. 

We can also help you to think about how you would approach a writing prompt, the steps you would take, and your own thoughts and ideas.

• Be prepared with a hard-copy or to share your work on Google Docs.
• Review the assignment guidelines and ask the professor follow-up questions.
• Complete any necessary reading or research. Librarians are available to assist you with the research process.
• Tutors can also help you with an outline, organization, and other pre-writing techniques.
• Bring a copy of your draft and/or, if it is a rewrite, the professor's feedback.
• It is best practice to have attempted to correct the paper based on the professor's feedback before the appointment. This allows for more time with the tutor and serves you best.

Each session is adapted to meet the student's needs. Students will share their work by bringing a hard copy or on Google Docs. Sessions begin with the tutor asking questions about the specific assignment, guidelines, and type of paper.

Appointments are discussion-based and include the student's writing process, goals for the appointment, and challenges/strengths of the specific writing. Throughout the appointment, the tutor will make suggestions with student input. Afterwards, the tutor will email a summary of the session to the student.

The objective of each session is for students to leave with a plan and next steps. We strive for students to become self-sufficient and develop their own writing process. Sessions are geared towards students making progress, and tutors may suggest an additional session. 

All of the Center's services are provided free of charge. 

ELA (English Language Assistance) is designed for students whose first language is not English and want to work on their academic English and fluency skills.

ELA tutors are often multilingual and/or have extensive experience tutoring speakers of other languages. These sessions focus on building vocabulary and fluency.

Bilingual sessions are available in Spanish. 

Conversation partners are arranged by emailing the Director at Alicia Brienza. 

The Writing Center strives to foster an environment that is inclusive of students of all abilities. To enhance and provide an equitable student experience, the Center offers several reasonable accommodations which are available for any student to request at the time of their tutoring or academic coaching appointment. Students are not required to disclose a disability in order to receive an accommodation as it pertains to tutoring services.

Students with a documented disability are strongly encouraged to register with the Disability Services Center (DSC) to receive classroom related accommodations. Some accommodations approved by the DSC, such as extended testing time, are only available for the classroom setting and do not carry over to tutoring services. Therefore, the Writing Center does not provide back-to-back tutoring appointments for the same course, or extended tutoring time (time and a half or double time) as a reasonable accommodation.

Available tutoring related accommodations are listed below:

• Extra time to enter or exit the physical space
• An aide or scribe to accompany the student during the session
• Intermittent breaks during the session
• A distraction reduced space*
• Wider, accessible working space
• Use of assistive technology, such as closed captions, dictation, text to speech, and screen reader
• Audio recording of a tutoring session^

*Note #1: This accommodation is dependent upon available space during the time of the appointment, and it is not guaranteed this will be available to all students at all times.

^Note #2: The Writing Center kindly asks that any student who wishes to record their tutoring session notify the tutor or coach prior to initiating recording.

Students with questions or concerns about accommodations should contact the Disability Services Center for further assistance.

This policy is subject to enforcement and modification by the Director. To coordinate accommodations in advance or for more information and questions, please contact Alicia Brienza, Director, at brienzal@farmingdale.edu. 

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Academic Coaching is a service for any student who wants executive function support. For questions about coaching or setting-up an appointment, please contact Ashley Perrone, Assistant Director, at Email.  

Writing Center accommodations are arranged by emailing Alicia Brienza, Director, at Alicia Brienza. 

We value your privacy. Please do not send any medical or personal information to the Writing Center. For information about registering with the Disability Service Center, please visit their website.

As of Fall 2023, we no longer hold group tutoring appointments.

For group projects, please use WC-PRO and indicate if it is a group assignment. After receiving WC-PRO feedback on a group project, individuals may schedule a tutoring appointment to review their section's feedback. 

Tutors are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and we cannot accommodate all students' deadlines. Students are responsible for planning and scheduling their appointments.

Appointments require working with students collaboratively by asking questions about their work and making suggestions for improvement. One hour is simply not enough time to hold an appointment and make improvements.

While we understand there are extenuating circumstances, a tutor cannot quickly edit a student's paper. 

Many professors require students to use the Center as part of their final grade on a specific assignment or for a class. The Writing Center cannot guarantee availability, and students are responsible for scheduling appointments in advance.

Students are sent tutor summary forms which serve as proof of attendance. These tutor summaries are the student's responsibility to submit to their professor. 

We are happy to review your paper and have an honest conversation about plagiarism. Most students are unaware they have plagiarized or do not know how to cite appropriately. We are a judgment-free, private space and can assist you with citation and definitions of plagiarism.

The Writing Center Director may also reach out to your professor on your behalf to clarify any questions about an assignment. This can be done anonymously and the Writing Center does not report private conversations with students about plagiarism. 

We do not facilitate private tutoring or share staff contact information. 

We are always hiring students! Please reach out to writingcenter@farmingdale.edu  express interest in applying to become a peer writing tutor or recommend an applicant.