On Sept. 18, the UNLV Writing Center officially opened its doors to in-person consultations, following a lengthy moving period from its original location in the Central Desert Complex (CDC). Previously, the Writing Center hosted virtual consultations (VC) and the Online Writing Lab (OWL) leading up to the grand opening.
Located at Campus Resource Center (CRC) 216, the new facility offers a wide variety of consultation rooms, technologies and accommodations to students in need of writing assistance. Accommodations include disability resources (DRC), virtual consultations and the Online Writing Lab (OWL). The Writing Center also offers consultations for multilingual, neurodivergent and disabled writers, in which consultants are specifically trained to help writers overcome challenges typically associated with such needs.
“Students, faculty and staff should all come to the Writing Center because sometimes writing is hard,” said Dr. Erin Zimmerman, director of the UNLV Writing Center. “Everyone has gotten stuck when writing, even really good writers, and that’s why the Writing Center exists. There’s a lot of thinking that goes into writing: translating ideas into words, analyzing and synthesizing information, connecting evidence to ideas, organizing thoughts logically, formatting the text on the page, and so on.”
The Writing Center provides an open-minded experience for writers of all disciplines and gives them the confidence to succeed in whatever tasks they face. In-person consultations are the primary consultation style offered by the Writing Center. Students can schedule one-on-one, 45-minute sessions with a trained consultant, providing students instant feedback on their work and active strategies on improving writing practices. Virtual consultations, conducted via Google Meets, follows a similar structure to in-person consultations, with a larger emphasis on digital resources. Students wishing to receive assistance with their writing, but cannot attend virtual or in-person, can consult the asynchronous Online Writing Lab, a service offered on the Writing Center’s website, in which students may submit their work through an online portal.
With a larger emphasis on accommodating writers of various backgrounds and needs, the Writing Center offers DRC accommodations. Writers with any type of disabilities can schedule consecutive appointments to provide them more time to walk through their literary needs. These accommodations must be made through a DRC specialist, whose office is also located in the CRC building.
The expanded facility also includes four consultation rooms and one room dedicated to virtual consulting. Each room is equipped with adjustable standing desks, making the space for the writer as customizable as possible. Opposite the aisle of consultation rooms, the new facility sports u-shaped seating areas, complete with tables and white boards to accommodate a large number of consultations at once, providing more available space for use.
“We now have individual consultation rooms. Before, two or more consultations were happening in the same room. It was loud and distracting. Now each consultant can meet with the writer or group of writers alone in a quiet room where they can all focus,” Zimmerman exclaimed.
To kick off the new facility and services, the Writing Center will be hosting a celebration party on Oct. 4-5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CRC 216. All students and faculty are welcome to attend and enjoy some free cake and snacks!
As a supplement to the new facility, the students may utilize the Writing Center’s new scheduler through their Rebel Success Hub portal, the primary appointment-making service. Alternatively, students interested in scheduling appointments with the writing center can contact the office at 702-895-3908 or visit unlv.edu/writing-center.
