University Writing
University Writing is a department under the Office of the Provost at Auburn University. It's mission is to make sure they are:
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Supporting students as thinkers and communicators by helping them become better writers through sustained and personalized services, especially the Miller Writing Center (MWC), and
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Reaching more students by partnering with instructors who teach high-impact, discipline-specific, writing-focused courses and curricula
Program Responsibilities from 2022-2023
Graduate Research and Writing Studio
I was the onsite consultant for this open study space. Students are encouraged to bring their research at any level for feedback and a place for quiet progress.
WriteFest
I co-led 4 sessions of WriteFest, where students can bring larger writing pieces for dedicated writing time and short instructional lessons on time management, organization, etc.
Writing Fellows
I was part of a pilot program where a graduate consultant is assigned to a graduate or undergraduate-level course to provide direct feedback on writing assignments and personalized consultations.
Graduate Writing Partners
I participated in three semesters of GWP, where graduate students are paired with a graduate consultant for weekly consistent feedback over the course of a semester.
Miller Writing Center
I was one of the graduate consultants at the writing center; students can request meetings virtually or in-person to review their writing. Here, I saw both undergraduate and graduate students.
Facilitating Workshops
I gave workshops on Ethical Source Use, Peer Feedback, Writing Literature Reviews, Writing for Extension Audiences, and more. See full list here.
Conferences & Other Scholarly Work
"Multimodality and Welcoming Diverse Writers Online: Developing a Consulting Philosophy"
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Presented by Brown, K., Breed, J., Hancock, C. E., & Liu, H.
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Online Writing Centers Association in 2023
"Graduate Writing Partners as a Method for Sustained, Personalized Support"
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Presented by Miron, L., Odeniyi, O., & Hancock, C. E.
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Consortium on Graduate Communication Summer Institute in 2022
AU Connects Articles
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"Organizing Theses and Dissertations" (2022)
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"Writing Effective Abstracts" (2022)
Consulting Philosophy
The experience of writing can be trying and discouraging, and the act of sharing that writing can reveal a sense of vulnerability. Thus, gaining the trust of my clients is incredibly important to me, and I take time to address progress, provide possible solutions, and celebrate successes to build that trust. As an employee, PhD student, and soon-to-be mother, I understand potentially competing identities, and I hope to build an environment of acceptance and validation from the very beginning.
During a session with me, clients will be asked to share their writing goals and concerns. After understanding the context of the writing and the feelings of the writer, I assess the writing, looking at high order concerns (organization, coherence, flow) first, rather than looking at grammar or spelling. If I do continuously see patterns of grammatical errors, I will take the time to gently and briefly point these out in an instructional manner, pointing to other resources that may be of help in that area. Ultimately, however, I wish to impart ways to strengthen their writing outside of consultations with me; I want my clients to feel empowered and more confident in their writing abilities. I do this through personalized assessments and forward-thinking feedback in the form of conversation, with encouragement throughout.
Testimonials
Rural Sociology
Masters Student
Industrial and Systems Engineering PhD student
"Clare always has a big picture when she helps us with writing; she points out minor issues in grammar, word choices, and code-meshing for readers’ easy understanding as well as suggests a clear structure for writers’ concise writing."
"Clare was impressively perceptive. She could diagnose topics I needed help with even when I did not always tell her. Whenever I asked her a question, I found her answers punctual and helpful. She did not beat around the bush. She is a hardworking, well-organized, committed consultant who has given much to her students."
Agricultural Economics
PhD Student
"Working with Clare on my qualifying paper was an extremely insightful experience for me as a non-native English speaker. She, while helping me to improve my writing, especially on coherence, also trained me to think about my writing from a third-person’s perspective. This helped me to gauge the paragraph content and the relative weight I put on various aspects of my paragraphs, resulting in well-balanced writing. Now I know how I should look at my writing, as a person who is in the field as well as a person away from the field. The most exciting feature is that she trained me to think on my own, about my own writing, during the Graduate Writing Partner sessions. I feel lucky to work with Clare during my early years of the Ph.D., as now I can use the experience to practice in my other writings, be it papers or term papers."