In the age of AI, it may be hard for students to understand why visiting the writing center benefits them. We like to say the UWC offers them two things Chat GPT and other AI can’t:
- a living, breathing reader who is a well-trained peer (someone who understands the context in which they are writing, because they live in it, and is specifically trained to help them)
- a focus on their learning. Students’ sessions at the writing center help them develop skills and strategies that make them stronger, more confident writers.
For many students, these benefits will be incentive enough to visit. If you choose to offer extra credit for visits, please consider the following:
- Since we may not be able to accommodate every student who wants to see us for extra credit, you may wish to specify other avenues for obtaining it, such as attending office hours or a workshop on campus. Students generally appreciate having a choice.
- We have noticed that some students who come for extra credit are just “here for the points.” Some are disengaged during the session; some leave after only a few minutes. If you plan to offer extra credit for visits, please specify that students need to come prepared to work and stay for the full 45 minutes.
- Encourage your students to ask us to send you a note about the session. If you do not receive one, ask them to send you the copy we sent them. If they can’t find it, we can resend the note upon request. Send these inquiries to uwcfrontdesk@utexas.edu.
- After consulting with various deans and heads of departments, we recommend that extra credit not exceed 1% of the final grade for the course.