FAQs

The Writing Centre at UL offers a free and friendly place for all staff and students (undergraduate and postgraduate) to come and address any aspect of their writing.

We offer:

• One-to-one peer tutoring
• Workshops
• Online resources
• Writers' groups for postgraduates
• Consultations for staff members

The Regional Writing Centre is located in the Main Building in C1-065 (on the C1 corridor, just before the Red Raisins canteen).

You will see a glass door printed with our logo opposite our Writing Centre noticeboard. 

How to find us

The Writing Centre caters for UL students and staff of all disciplines and from all faculties.

We even have discipline-specific tutors to help out with most styles of academic writing.

Staff can avail of our peer-tutoring sessions if attending the Centre as a postgraduate or PhD student, or book a staff consultation with our Writing Centre consultants if attending as a staff member.

To book a staff consultation, please email writingcentre@ul.ie.

You can call in any time between 10am-12pm, and 2-4pm, Monday to Friday

We have a dedicated Writers’ Space here in C1-065. It is a distraction-free room with limited internet access. It is perfect for those who want to write, but find it difficult to write alone. 

The Writers’ Space is open to all PhD students and staff from 9am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. Drop in between classes or dedicate a morning to your work, the choice is yours.

Opening days vary each semester and are advertised through email and social media. If you wish to start or join a writers' group, contact writingcentre@ul.ie.

Peer tutoring times can be viewed and booked online.

Times for tutoring, Writers' Groups and workshops, seminars, etc can be viewed on the Regional Writing Centre weekly timetable,

Upcoming workshops and other RWC activities will also be posted on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Unfortunately, we don't proofread at the Regional Writing Centre. This is because we are a learning centre - a resource, not a service. We can teach you the skills you need to proofread your own work. 

Once you've registered at studentvolunteer.ie, you can send your Writing-talk Advocates submission to writingcentre@ul.ie.

A quick query is an academic writing question that requires no more than 15 minutes of the tutor's time to answer.

If the question takes longer than 15 minutes to answer, then the tutor will advise you to make an appointment.

How to book an appointment

Once you have registered, simply log in with your UL/MIC email and password.

1. Choose the time you want, any available slots are shown in white.
2. Fill in the required fields and select 'create appointment'.

• You can also specify whether you'd like an online or in-person session. 
• You can change the duration of your appointment by clicking the drop-down box where your selected time is displayed. 
• Make sure to tick both necessary boxes.
• Tutor specialities are found at the side of the page when booking. You don't have to book a session with someone in your field, all tutors are qualified to teach across disciplines as they focus on academic writing - not the content. 

Services offered by the Writing Centre are free. No matter whether you attend a workshop or a peer tutoring session, it will not cost you a cent.

How to register for an appointment  

1. To register for a peer tutoring session, go to our schedule homepage. 
2. Select 'register for an account', fill in the required fields and 'create account'.

Note: Be sure to fill in both tick boxes on the form, including those in drop-down menus. 

Cancelling an appointment

A minimum of two hours' notice is required when cancelling appointments.

If an appointment is cancelled on the day of the session, please contact the Centre so the slot can be given to another student. 

1. Select you appointment
2. Scroll to the bottom of your appointment information and select 'cancel appointment'.

Appointments can also be modified. 

You can only have one peer tutoring session booked at a time in the Writing Centre.

Firstly, this is because it is unfair to hold a second booking at the same time, preventing another student from using the service.

Also, almost nobody who comes to talk to the Writing Centre's peer tutors should know that they will need another session, before finishing their first one. This is because the aim of our tutors is to make students more confident, critical and autonomous writers, who no longer need to use this service.

The only exception to this rule is if a student needs to talk about two very different types of assignments (for example, law and politics). They can then book two half-hour sessions with specialists in those areas.

Anytime a student is found to have made more than one appointment at a time the later appointment will be cancelled and the tutee will be notified by email immediately.

You can book either half-hour or hour long appointments at the Writing Centre.

Failing to show up for an appointment

If a student doesn't show up for their appointment after ten minutes, they are marked as a 'no show'.

This means that their booking privileges are revoked for the remainder of the semester.

Users will also be marked as a 'no show' and have booking privileges revoked for cancelling without at least two hours' notice. 

Booking privileges can be reinstated with fair reason.

If a student's booking privileges have been rescinded, they can still pop into the Writing Centre and avail of any sessions that were either not booked, cancelled or to which another student didn't show up.

All free sessions are posted on the Writing Centre's Facebook page.

How the waiting list works

If there is an appointment time that you want, but someone else has booked it, you can go on the waiting list.

Log into the schedule and click the white clock icon on the left side of the screen, next to the date. Make sure to choose a tutor who is tutoring that day, and a time they are tutoring.

Our tutors only come to the Writing Centre at the times that they are scheduled for, so referencing a tutor who isn't listed on the schedule will mean that you won't get an alert email if an appointment frees up.

We also update our Twitter page daily with details of appointment cancellations and no-shows, and put a 'Drop-In' sign on the Centre door when a student does not arrive for their appointment.

A 'Drop-In' sign means that a tutor is in the Centre and is available to speak to a student.

If you have any difficulty booking online, please drop into the Writing Centre, C1-065, between 10am and midday, 2pm and 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, you may email any further queries to writingcentre@ul.ie.

No, students cannot request to meet a tutor outside the Writing Centre.

Outside of the hours provided to students, the Centre has no control over the quality of tutoring provided.

It also would over-step the ethical boundaries placed by the Centre and eat into the peer tutors' own time to study.

If you cannot find any times this week that suit you, you can either click on the clock image next to each day to see when there are cancellations, or you can book for the following week.

Do not worry if you cannot book a session with a specialist tutor in your area, as they are all capable of talking to you about your assignment.

Tell us about your experience, good or bad, by completing the appropriate section of the survey emailed to you following your session. (Alternatively, you can fill out a paper copy of the survey in the Writing Centre.)

These surveys are reviewed on a regular basis and any issues that you bring to our attention will be addressed.

If there is a problem that you feel has not been adequately addressed or an issue that you feel needs immediate attention, please contact the RWC's Director: lawrence.cleary@ul.ie .

All communications will be addressed in the strictest confidence.