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How to Use the Online Writing Center

The online writing center provides tutoring assistance to students via the Internet, to both onsite and online students. The online writing center is available seven days a week from 3-9 p.m.  Pacific Time and offers 45-minute synchronous iLinc sessions (PC users), or email conferences (Mac users), or phone conferences. To use the online writing center, all you need is an active email account and an Internet connection.

NOTE: You must remain online during the session in order to interact with the writing consultant.

To access the Online writing Center:

PC users:

• Go to the online scheduler (http://tutor.nu.edu) and make an appointment.
  Just before your appointment is to begin, be at your computer with your email open. Send a note to wonline@nu.edu to let the consultant know that you are ready to begin your tutorial session. Include in your email:
• The assignment
• If you have one, a draft of your work (a Microsoft Word attachment with a .doc extension works best)
• Two or three elements of your paper that you would like to discuss during the session, such as whether your thesis is narrow enough, the organization is clear, your evidence is convincing, or your paper's citations and bibliography are formatted correctly.
• Once you've discussed larger issues like these, you and the consultant may decide to move on to topics like sentence structure and punctuation.
• The online consultant will respond to your email and send you a web link to iLinc, the interactive conferencing software that you and the consultant will use for the session. Through the iLinc system, the consultant can speak directly to you and you can respond. If your computer has speakers and a microphone, turn these on. If you do not have a microphone, you can still respond to the consultant by typing your responses to the consultant in iLinc. If you have neither a speaker system nor a microphone system, let the consultant know - you will use iLinc as an instant messaging system.
• If this is the first time you are using the iLinc system, the consultant will spend a few minutes of your session to instruct you in its use.

Mac users:

• Go to the online scheduler (http://tutor.nu.edu) and make an appointment.
  Just before your appointment is to begin, be at your computer with your email open. Send a note to wonline@nu.edu, to let the consultant know that you are ready to begin your email tutorial session. Include in your email:
• The assignment
• If you have one, a draft of your work (a word processing attachment with a .doc extension works best)
• Two or three elements of your paper that you would like to discuss during the session, such as whether your thesis is narrow enough, the organization is clear, your evidence is convincing, or your paper's citations and bibliography are formatted correctly.
• Once you've discussed larger issues like these, you and the consultant may decide to move on to topics like sentence structure and punctuation. 
• The online consultant will respond to your email.

• Make an appointment to see a consultant