Support for Students and Courses
Class Visits
We offer two (2) types of class visits for faculty and staff teaching courses or leading semester-long groups here at Kenyon. To request a class visit, use this google form.
- Approximately 15 minutes to introduce students to the Writing Center and how we can help them. We try to connect to an upcoming assignment if you have one due soon.
- Approximately 30-60 minutes to introduce a more in-depth writing concept. Examples from last semester include use of evidence and analysis of that evidence, crafting strong body paragraphs, and creating a clear introduction with a powerful thesis statement.
Writing Videos and Handouts
We offer a variety of accessible videos on our YouTube channel and we upload new content regularly. We also offer many accessible writing handouts on our homepage (scroll to the bottom) and we add new handouts there each semester, too. Please feel free to use these materials as you see fit. Questions about them can be directed to Anna at scanlon1@kenyon.edu.
Liaison Program
Do you feel like you have a longer written assignment that you wish your students could get the same tutor’s perspective on (perhaps even a tutor you once taught the same assignment to)? Our liaison program is a great way to make that connection by having a specific writing tutor assigned to your course for the semester! To request a liaison, please use this Google form. Full consideration will be given to those individuals who request a Spring 2024 liaison before 5 p.m. on Friday, December 1, 2023.
Required or Incentivized Appointments
We support your offering extra incentives (like partial credit returned for a missed peer review) if a student comes to the writing center. If you do require or incentivize, we just ask that when the students sign up, they provide their professor’s email address so we can confirm that the student attended the appointment. That fact is specified on the appointment form.
Kenyon Writes
For students who would like more structure and accountability with their writing assignments, we offer Kenyon Writes — a weekly or biweekly program in which they meet with the same tutor for check ins on their work. Staff and faculty can refer students for this program at any point in the semester using this Google form. Students can also nominate themselves for this program using the same form.
Conversation Partners
For students for whom English is not their first or home language who would like practice speaking in a low stakes, non judgmental environment, we offer Conversation Partners to talk with a tutor, to ask questions, and to share lived experiences if they so choose. They can sign up using this Google form which covers a variety of specifics regarding how tutors can assist non-native speakers.
Support for Faculty and Staff
Commenting on Prompts (COP) Program
This program is designed to give you student feedback on assignments, syllabi and other resources you pass out in class before you hand them out so you can make edits for clarity.
How it works: You submit a draft as a Google doc linked in this form, we then have two tutors read it over during their shifts, offering their feedback and advice, and then the director will also read it over, including her feedback and advice as well. You then get the assignment back as a new Google doc in which you can accept, reject or ask questions about our recommendations.
Reading Your Drafts
Our tutors are trained to read anyone’s drafts, yours included! Feel free to bring them by or meet with a tutor online! To learn more about how to meet with a tutor online or in-person, check out our YouTube video and our Google doc.
Our tutors are taught to first to look for higher-order concerns (HOCs), which interfere with the overall meaning of your work, before looking for lower-order concerns (LOCs) such as grammar and punctuation. This expectation holds for staff, faculty and student writing.
To sign up for an appointment, visit owl.kenyon.edu and register if you haven't yet made an account.
Nominate Someone to Become a Tutor
Did you have a wonderful student in your course or with whom you worked who really grew as a writer, or overcame writing anxieties, or perhaps is an empathetic listener? We'd LOVE to have them join our staff. Nominate them using this Google form (students can also self-nominate)! We accept nominations both in the spring and fall semesters. We are currently ONLY accepting nominations for the Fall 2024. All our Spring 2024 spots have been filled.
Questions? Ideas for other things with which we might help? Email Anna (she/her) at scanlon1@kenyon.edu.