Writing Studio

The Writing Studio at Concordia University Irvine supports all members of the campus community as they develop as writers and critical thinkers. We offer synchronous and asynchronous consultations for undergraduate and graduate students working on writing assignments across the curriculum.

About the Writing Studio

Mission

In accordance with the University’s mission, the Writing Studio seeks to empower students as life-long critical thinkers and clear communicators by supporting their development as writers.

We believe that writers across all disciplines, at all skill levels, and at any stage in the writing process, benefit from genuine dialogue about their writing. Through one-on-one conferencing and group workshops we act as listeners and guides, respecting and supporting a diverse range of writers as they ask questions, solve problems, and discover new ideas in order to communicate effectively.

During this process, we seek to equip students with strategies for future writing tasks so that they may develop into confident, independent thinkers and writers.

Learning Outcomes

1. Increased Confidence: Student-writers will demonstrate increased confidence in their writing based on techniques and strategies learned and/or clarified during Writing Studio sessions.
2. Writing Strategy Development & Application: Student-writers will practice one or more writing skills/strategies each session. They will also formulate “next steps” to guide progress in applying those skills after the session is over. Writing skills and strategies include but are not limited to (a) assignment interpretation, (b) brainstorming, (c) pre-writing, (d) thesis development, (e) outlining, (f) organization, (g) paragraph development, (h) source incorporation & proper citation, (i) voice & style.
3. Improved Student Writing: Students will apply feedback from consultations to make positive global and local revisions to their writing.
4. Professional Development: Peer Writing Studio Consultants will report that working in the Writing Studio and participating in Writing Studio professional development activities helped them to grow academically and intellectually in the following areas, which are transferable to a variety of academic and professional careers: improved written communication skills, improved ability to solve complex problems, improved active listening skills, increased confidence in using their knowledge to help others.
5. Diversity: The racial and ethnic demographics of Writing Studio and Online Writing Lab clients will correspond with the racial and ethnic demographics of the Concordia University Irvine student body.

History

Our Journey

The Concordia University writing center opened its doors for the first time in 1996 under the direction of Professor Kristen Schmidt. Originally, the Writing Center was located in Library 111, the largest study room in the library. We quickly outgrew that space and relocated to Theta Lounge close to student dormitories. Theta Lounge gave resident students easy access to our services, but we lost commuters who had trouble finding us or didn’t want to make the long haul from their classrooms to the residential community on the other side of campus. In 2016, the Writing Center celebrated its 20th anniversary with a name change – Writing Studio – and a newly renovated space on the main floor of the library accessible to all students, faculty, and staff. We relocated again in 2022 when the library building underwent significant renovation and became home to the Schroeder Library and Learning Commons. We continue to offer a relaxed environment on the top floor where students can discuss their writing with undergraduate writing consultants trained to provide instructive feedback.

The Online Writing Lab (OWL)

In 2013, it became clear that the Writing Center needed to expand its services to provide writing assistance for Concordia University’s growing graduate, certificate, nursing, and adult education programs. To serve these students, the online writing lab (OWL) was established. The OWL has a separate, professional staff to respond to asynchronous submissions with written feedback. As with synchronous consultations, written feedback focuses on “big picture” issues: organization, focus, use of research, clarity, etc. with the goal of helping students to become better writers. During its first year, the OWL had 209 submissions. These days, the OWL staff receives over 2000 submissions annually.

AI Use in the Writing Studio

As AI continues to evolve, the Writing Studio’s goals remain the same: to support students’ development as life-long critical learners and clear communicators. As listeners and guides to the writing process, we encourage students to ask questions, solve problems, discover new ideas, and produce their own work.

To that end, the Writing Studio will continue to collaborate with writers, faculty, and other student support services in developing best practices for AI usage. We will also strive to encourage honest, nuanced conversations about AI and find ways to address concerns related to academic honesty.

In each session, we will hold to our promise of student confidentiality and honor the professor’s syllabus and assignment guidelines.

Make an Appointment

Writing feedback will address global concerns in your paper, such as the clarity of your ideas, organization, structure, format, and style. Although our consultants will not proofread or line-edit your work, they will point out patterns of grammatical or stylistic errors and offer suggestions for improvement.