Our Mission

Mission of the UIC Writing Center

We work together with students on writing and engage them as valued members of the UIC community. Tutoring is tailored to each individual and both tutor and student facilitate the tutoring conversation.

The Writing Center invests in tutoring that is conducted by peers. Without judgment, tutors talk to fellow students about strengths as well as opportunities for improvement.  Tutors take interest in the content of writing and create opportunities for fellow students to make choices about their writing. Writing is learned best in an environment that fosters community.

The Writing Center strives to create reciprocal learning spaces for individuals of all identities and linguistic backgrounds. We welcome students who represent the varieties of English used nationally and globally and strive to counter the damage done by educational practices that maintain white linguistic supremacy.

The Writing Center inhabits spaces built on the occupied original homelands of the Council of Three Fires: The Ojibwe, Potawatomi,  and Odawa as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois nations. We work towards a relationship of support and healing with Native communities.

Integral to our mission is offering a training program for tutors that is meaningful for their academic, professional, and personal development. Our training course is open to all students who are willing to learn from each session and respect and support all students who use the Writing Center.

We seek to innovate by conducting research on writing development, creating evidence-based tutoring practices, and learning from the vitality that each new cohort of UIC students brings to our understanding of literacy and its relationship to students’ goals and dreams.

The Writing Center works with faculty and administration to make tutoring welcoming, inclusive, and equitable. The Writing Center seeks to embody UIC’s mission “to transform lives and serve society by educating, creating knowledge, and putting knowledge to work on a large scale and with excellence.”