Academic Enrichment
Online Writing Assistance (OWL)
The OWL will look at student papers during the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
The Writing Center offers online writing assistance for UCM students.
To receive online help with a paper - at any stage in the writing process - send it to the Writing Center at the address listed at the bottom of the page. Read carefully the instructions for sending a paper via email and note what kinds of instruction Writing Center faculty can offer.
- Because of time limitations, we can generally look at about three pages per assignment. This will, however, give us a good indication of problem areas and suggestions for improving the paper.
- Identify three areas you would specifically like us to address in the paper, for example:
- Does my conclusion match my thesis?
- Is my paragraphing logical?
- Do I have serious grammatical errors in the paper?
- Please do not expect Writing Center faculty to correct every error in the three pages of the paper that you ask us to examine; we will look mainly at the problem areas you identify.
- Allow 48 hours (excluding weekends) for us to receive the paper, critique it, and send it back to you. In most cases it will not take this long, but during peak rush times on campus, such as mid-term and finals, we will be very busy. (Consequently, make sure you write and send your paper well in advance of the due date.)
Note: Our goal is to help students become self-sufficient writers capable of editing their own work. As with our in-house instruction, our online instruction emphasizes teaching and is not a proofreading service. This is another reason Online Writing Lab instructors will review only three pages of any one paper: After we help students to recognize the error patterns in a portion of their paper, we assume that they will be able to apply this knowledge to correct the remainder of the paper themselves.
Format for sending papers to the Writing Center via email:
- Either send your paper as a Microsoft Word attachment, or cut and paste it into the email
- Include your correct email address
- Explain the assignment and identify three possible problem areas
- The Writing Center needs the following information for records:
- Your name
- Your Banner ID (700#)
- The class the assignment is for (include prefix and number; grad or under grad credit)
- The classroom instructor's name
- The campus location of the class (main campus, Lee's Summit, etc.)
(This information is confidential and is only given to the instructor at the student's request.)
Note: Any paper that does not include the requested information will not be critiqued.
Using the instructions above, mail your paper to writingcenter@ucmo.edu.
Important: Upon receipt of your paper, we will send a short reply to confirm that we have it. If you do not receive a reply within 24 hours, this means that we did not receive your paper. Please call to confirm receipt if you do not hear from us.
