Welcome back, Warriors!
The Writing and Communication Centre is open for the spring term! We can help you learn to write more persuasively, concisely, analytically, and clearly. We work with all writers -- experienced, beginning, first year, upper year, and grad students – in all disciplines.
Book a free 50 or 25 minute one-on-one appointment with a writing advisor or peer tutor, focused entirely on your own work, whether you are just getting started with your assignment instructions or you are doing deep revision on an advanced piece. Feel free to bring in work at the thinking stage or early stage.
Are you teaching this term? Partner with the WCC!
Students and instructors alike benefit when you promote Writing and Communication Centre services. Visit the WCC website to see how you can partner with us to enhance students’ technical and soft skills.
The request form for our custom tailored, course-integrated synchronous or asynchronous workshops and in-class introductions to the WCC is open for the spring 2025 term! We still have plenty of space for your class. Check out all the workshops we offer or request a workshop directly here! For questions about workshops and class introductions, contact Jirina K. Poch at jkpoch@uwaterloo.ca.
NEW Integrating Evidence workshop now available on LEARN
In the Writing and Communication Centre’s new workshop, Integrating Evidence: Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation, students learn about the purpose and success criteria of summaries, paraphrase, and direct quotations; how to support their own arguments using these elements, and how to seamlessly integrate evidence into their academic papers and presentations. Now available on LEARN.
The Write Spot is Open for the Term!
We are excited to welcome you back to The Write Spot for the spring term! Come check out our upgraded space, grab a free tea or coffee, and chat with members of our team.
The Write Spot is the Writing and Communication Centre's student-focused space. Located on the second floor of South Campus Hall, it houses our reception desk, and features an open and inviting workspace for students to show up and work on their academic projects.
Hours of Operation
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
*Reception desk closed daily between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.
Invitation to Participate in a new study: Graduate Supervision and Generative Artificial Intelligence: Current Perspectives, Questions, Concerns, and Approaches of Faculty
Researchers from University of Waterloo’s Library and Writing and Communication Centre invite faculty members who supervise graduate students to participate in individual interviews as part of a research study.
The objective of this study is to establish a baseline understanding of how graduate supervisors at University of Waterloo approach the decision-making process around, and supervision of, graduate students’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools for research and writing tasks. Establishing this baseline understanding about current practices when approaching this new aspect of graduate supervision is the first step in establishing an evidence-based basis for 1) the development of resources for graduate supervisors in navigating this issue with students as well as 2) clear guidelines about GenAI use for University of Waterloo graduate students.
Participation in this study is voluntary. You can find a detailed invitation to participate at the WCC website. If you have questions about participating in this study, please contact Kari D. Weaver, Learning, Teaching and Instructional Design Librarian or Nadine Fladd, Manager, Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Programs at kdweaver@uwaterloo.ca or nadine.fladd@uwaterloo.ca.
Design and Deliver Grad Studio Part 3: Defending and Answering Questions
In this workshop, we’ll discuss the purpose of Q&As and defences, teach you how to prepare for questions from your audience and share strategies to ask and answer questions clearly. This workshop works best if you’re preparing for a presentation with a significant Q&A portion (like a defence).
When: Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: GSA Lounge (SLC 3216)
Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Literature Review: A Workshop for Graduate Students
GenAI can’t write your literature review for you, but this workshop will explore and introduce GenAI tools you may use as supports in the literature review process. This interactive workshop is a collaboration between the Library and the Writing and Communication Centre and is designed for graduate students who are working on a literature review as part of a project proposal, thesis or dissertation, or a standalone journal article.
When: Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Online through Microsoft Teams
Rock Your Thesis 3: Revise and Submit
This workshop will equip you with the skills you need to revise your thesis or dissertation draft and plan to submit and defend it. This hands-on, interactive program has three objectives: Review the submission and defence process and timelines, introduce a range revision strategies and both the structural and sentence level, and give participants an opportunity to try out revision and peer review activities with their own work. This workshop is best suited for Master’s and PhD students who have written at least part of their thesis or dissertation draft.
When: Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: PHYS 235
NEW Location for the IBPOC Student Writing Café
The IBPOC Student Writing Cafés are spaces where Indigenous, Black, and graduate students of colour can come together to form supportive communities of writers. Structured by timed writing spurts and breaks, these groups make space for concerns specific to IBPOC writers.
When: Tuesdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Where: South Campus Hall (SCH) room 228F
No registration required
In-person Grad Writing Cafés running all summer long!
Grab a coffee and get writing. Join our network of graduate student, postdoc, and faculty writers at the Grad Writing Café! Meet other writers, stay on track, and make progress on your work. Writing doesn't have to be solitary!
When: Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Where: GSA Lounge (SCL 3216)
No registration required