UCLA
Graduate Writing Center

Graduate Writing Center Policies

Appointment Eligibility

You must be a registered UCLA graduate student to use the appointment services of the UCLA Graduate Writing Center. We also allow graduate students to use the GWC the summer before their entering quarter, and for one quarter after they graduate.

Undergraduate students and graduate students from other universities are not eligible for appointment services. UCLA undergraduate students should use the Undergraduate Writing Center, the Writing Success Program (Student Retention Center), the Scholarship Resource Center, and the Career Center for their writing support needs.

Appointment Policy

Graduate students may reserve two appointments in advance on a first-come, first-serve basis, but they are limited to one writing appointment per day.

Graduate students are expected to be present and actively participate for the duration of the appointment.

Graduate students are not permitted to give their appointment slots to other students, to bring in work written by others, or to have others bring in their writing for them.

Group Projects: Members of group writing projects may make consecutive appointments at the GWC (up to 2 in a row) and attend the whole block together, but the consultant will have the prerogative to take a break when needed, and the cumulative time will still be calculated based on 50 minutes per appointment. Please note that because it is against policy to give feedback to writers who are not at the appointment (see the paragraph above this one), consultants will focus on the sections written by only those who are present at the appointment.

Virtual Appointments

We offer virtual appointments via Zoom and ask that graduate students provide Zoom links for these meetings using their UCLA Pro Zoom accounts (or UCLA Pro Health Sciences Zoom accounts for students in the health sciences.) Select the virtual option when signing up for the appointment in Handshake. More information on appointment medium and virtual appointments.

Late Cancellation/Lateness/No Show Policy

If you fail to show up for an appointment (no show) or do not cancel within Handshake by midnight the night before, you will have to wait two weeks before scheduling another appointment and any appointments currently reserved will be canceled. If you are more than 20 minutes late to an appointment, your appointment will be penalized as a no show appointment.

If someone under the two week penalty attempts to schedule any appointment during the two week ban, the GWC appointment will be canceled. Two weeks must pass before a new appointment can be scheduled. (For example, if you miss an appointment on October 1st, you must wait until October 14th before scheduling a new appointment. Any appointment found in the system before October 14th would be canceled.)

Exceptions may be made to this policy if the writing consultee provides documentation (e.g., a doctor's note for sickness).

If you have several late cancellations/no shows in a single academic year, you may receive a longer suspension at the discretion of the GWC Director.

Assistance Policy

Writing consultants are trained to offer feedback on writing issues (but not on field specific issues). Graduate students may receive assistance on all kinds of writing related to the graduate student's academic or professional field, but excluding the following types of writing

  • writing that is part of an in-class or take-home examination either for a course or a degree requirement
  • writing for which the student is not the author (for example, another student's work)
  • writing for coursework that is in violation of explicit course policies about receiving assistance (for example, first-year legal writing classes in the Law School)

Exceptions may be granted for exams if the GWC director receives written permission from 1) the course's instructor of record for a course-related exam (permission from a TA is not sufficient), or 2) a faculty advisor or official departmental representative for a degree-related exam. The GWC director Marilyn Gray (mgray@saonet.ucla.edu) must receive this written permission directly (via email) from the appropriate individual before the writing appointment. Alternatively, if permission for course take-home exams is explicitly written in course syllabi, this documentation will be sufficient.

Privacy Policy

All services are confidential. No information about graduate student use of our service will be released except what is required by university policy or by law.

Policy on Referrals

Unlike some writing centers, we do not take direct referrals from faculty. As a service for graduate students, we stress the responsibility and initiative of the student. If a faculty member has concerns with a graduate student's writing, we recommend that they write out comments for the graduate student to bring to a writing appointment to work on with the consultant.

If you have any questions about policies, please contact the GWC: gwc@gsa.asucla.ucla.edu