About the Writing Assistance Center
The ability to speak and write in a clear, organized, and effective way is essential not only in school, but more importantly, in the real world. The WAC was established to help all the campus students strengthen their writing abilities. The central focus of the Center's services for students is peer review, provided through the writing conference program.

The Writing Conference
All writers benefit from sharing their work with a reader, and a writing conference allows you to do just that.  During a writing conference, a Peer Writing Consultant will read your draft with an objective eye; give you feedback on its strengths and weaknesses; and help you revise the areas which need rewriting. Your Peer Writing Consultant will examine first the structural features of your draft: thesis, organization, and the development of your argument.  Your Peer Writing Consultant also will identify errors in grammar, mechanics and style and work with you to revise these errors.

You are an active partner in the discussion; at no time does the Peer Writing Consultant take over authorship of your writing.

When to Have a Conference
You are welcome to come in for a conference with any type of writing at any point in the process, from thinking about the topic to polishing a final draft. You may choose to meet with a tutor to:

• clarify your ideas develop a thesis organize your argument strengthen specific paragraphs or sentences
• revise a paper after grading

WAC Staff
The Center is staffed by an English professor and Peer Writing Consultants,  who are selected after 16 hours of training. Click here to see their profiles.

More Information
For more information about the Writing Assistance Center at NVCC Alexandria Campus, contact:

Cate Keaser
Writing Center Coordinator
Phone: 703-845-6054
E-mail: ckeaser@nvcc.edu