Graduate Writing Support Guidelines

Who We Serve

Sweetland's writing support services serve currently-enrolled, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) graduate students.

International graduate students: If you are an international or multilingual graduate student who would prefer to meet with a second language specialist, you can schedule an appointment with the English Language Institute's Speaking and Writing Studio.

Faculty, Staff, and Post-docs: We do not provide writing support for these U-M communities.

Accessibility

You can find detailed information about the physical, sensory, and navigability features of Writing Workshop on the Accessibility page.

Types of Writing You Can Bring In

Writing Workshop is funded by the university for materials related to courses and academic research. Examples of work we do and do not work with graduate writers on is viewable on the Writing Workshop main page.

Use of GenAI

If you have used GenAI or other tools or technologies during your composition process, you are still responsible for the words and claims in your work. We welcome an active and thoughtful conversation with you about the content and form of your writing.

Appointment and Scheduling Limits

You may schedule one 45-minute appointment per week in the Writing Workshop. Those requiring more time for their work may request up to two appointments per week. Appointments can be scheduled up to seven calendar days in advance.

What to Bring With You

1. Reasonable expectations: What one or two issues in your piece of writing would you like to discuss with the writing consultant? If you have a really long paper, on what part or parts would you like to focus?
2. Your assignment sheet, writing prompt, and any guidelines or rubrics you’ve been given.
3. Ideas about or a draft of your writing project in electronic or hard copy.

When You Arrive

For In-Person Appointments

You will be utilizing self check-in when you arrive for your appointment. After completing your self check-in, have a seat in the lobby, and your consultant come get you.

For Online Appointments

Please turn on your cameras and microphones for your online appointments. These are intended to mirror our in-person appointments as much as possible, and therefore rely on direct dialogue. We understand that extenuating circumstances may make it impossible to turn on your camera; if that is the case, please inform your consultant and you can have a discussion about possibly rescheduling the appointment.

Late Arrivals

Arriving on time ensures that you and the consultant will have ample time to discuss your writing. If you are 10 minutes late, you will lose your appointment.

What Happens at Your Consultation

1. Most sessions begin with a brief discussion of what you're working on and the kind of help you're looking for.
2. Come prepared to participate in an active collaboration with your consultant -- for example, by asking and answering questions, reading through the paper aloud, generating ideas, making notes on your own draft, etc.
3. An effective session will often focus on global concerns (e.g., thesis, ideas, evidence, organization) before addressing local concerns such as grammar and punctuation. Prioritizing global concerns assures that you won’t spend time fixing sentences that might not even support your aim for the paper.
4. While consultants are happy to work with you on your local grammatical and mechanical concerns, we avoid proofreading or "correcting" papers. We can help you identify patterns of error, proofread more effectively, and improve clarity and style. If you’re ready to address local concerns, expect to focus on one or two concerns per consultation.
5. Writing Workshop sessions are intended to be collaborative, respectful, and productive. Sessions may conclude early if all questions have been addressed or if the discussion is no longer productive.

Usage of comments/feedback

Reproduction or sharing of consultants' comments in part or in full with any other people, services, or AI program is strictly prohibited. Consultation participants commit to never submitting any of either party's comments or writing to an AI program without explicit consent from both people. Consent includes specifying which LLMs and which words are okay to involve.

How to Reschedule or Cancel Appointments

If for any reason you need to modify or cancel an appointment, try to let us know at least 90 minutes prior to the appointment time. This allows Sweetland to assist as many writers as possible. Thank you for your courtesy to our consultants and your fellow writers!

1. Visit the Writing Workshop schedule.
2. Select the schedule from the drop-down menu on which you made your initial reservation.
3. Navigate to the date on which your appointment was scheduled.
4. Click on the orange box, which opens your reservation panel.
5. If you need to make a change, edit the panel as necessary. Click “Save Changes.” If you need to cancel the appointment, select the "cancel" box at the bottom of the page. Then click "Save Changes."
6. You will receive an email notification confirming the action.

What if Sweetland needs to cancel my appointment?

If the Sweetland Center for Writing needs to cancel your appointment due to consultant illness, you will be notified by email as soon as possible. We will make every effort to reschedule the appointment with another consultant for the same time before canceling an appointment.

Missed Appointments

If you miss an appointment, you will be unable to schedule another appointment for one week. You will be notified via email when this occurs. Although you won’t be able to make an appointment, you are still welcome to use Sweetland’s walk-in services. If you miss two appointments, you will be unable to schedule an appointment for the remainder of the semester; however, you may continue to use our services on a walk-in basis. These policies help us serve as many students as possible each semester.

Loss of Power/Internet Connectivity

In the event you or the consultant lose power or internet connectivity during your online appointment, please attempt to reconnect to the appointment, as long as there is time remaining in your original appointment time slot. If reconnecting fails, your session will end at that time and you will be able to reschedule.

Please email sweetlandww@umich.edu to notify Sweetland's Writing Workshop Coordinator that your appointment was disconnected prematurely due to power or internet connectivity issues and that you would like to schedule another appointment.

You'll receive a response as soon as possible letting you know you may schedule another appointment that same week.