The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

The independent student news organization of Nicholls State University

the nicholls worth

WAC lab continues to assist students in writing process

The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program is a program that helps students go through the writing process on any writing assignment. The WAC program is designed to help students from all areas of study on any written assignment from any instructor. The program provides assistance to students using consultations during any stage of the writing process. It could be anything from thinking, prewriting, organizing, or drafting, revising and proofreading. “The most common problem that students seem to have with the paper is the content of the paper,” Coordinator Carolyn Portier Gorman said.

A consultation is a conversation with someone about the writing assignment to help improve it. Usually each one lasts at least 30 minutes.

“Although any student can come in for help, it is mostly the freshman and sophomore classes that come in,” Gorman said. “Many teachers are expecting students to go to the WAC for help. If a student goes in for help, the professors will not find out if a student comes in unless the student tells them.”

The staff looks over the writing assignment before it is turned in for a grade, and they will show the student how to fix it. They will teach the student how to correct the errors.

“I think that there will be more people who will come in for help because there is a renewed interest in all the disciplines in the writing process,” Gorman said. “This center not only helps with the immediate assignment, but teaches them how to communicate better with others. No matter what kind of job you have, you have to be able to write.”

Students pay for this service in their fees at the beginning of the semester. The WAC program hours are 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday. On Friday it closes at 3 p.m. It also is open on Monday and Wednesday from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. In order to make an appointment the student has to call 449-7119 or go online at http://www.nicholls.edu/wac. Walk-in is available on a first come, first serve basis.

“Tremendously it is what helped me to get through an English semester; it is not my strongest subject. They help you to understand it more,” Terri Autin, nursing sophomore from Bourg, said.

The WAC program affiliated with University College and the Tutorial and Academic Enhancement Program. David Boudreaux, vice president of institutional Advancement, and Velma Tully, department head of Languages and Literature, started the WAC program in 1991 because it was recognized that there was a need for assistance at Nicholls. Last fall there were over 1000 sessions with 514 students. Many students went in for help more than once. In the spring of last year there were 332 students who came in for help. It was the slowest semester in the past seven years.

“The WAC helped me work out the structure of my paper. They helped me organize it,” Richard Abarr, secondary education sophomore from Slidell, said.

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WAC lab continues to assist students in writing process