Early Bird

Writing Center roundup

Pop-up collaboration with Career Services, scholarship opportunity and new proofreading service available.

By Cory Phare

March 4, 2019

Coffee and cover letters

Know students who could stand to polish up their résumé and cover letters? The Metropolitan State University of Denver Writing Center is joining forces with MSU Denver’s Career Services Department for a pop-up event on March 14 from 1-4 p.m. at Dazbog Coffee outside of the Jordan Student Success Building.

Elizabeth Kleinfeld, Writing Center director and professor of English, said the resource can help students avoid common pitfalls to reframe job duties from simple lists into accomplishments and customize materials for specific applications.

“Even if students aren’t planning to attend the large-scale Spring Job and Internship Fair on April 3, it’s a great opportunity to work on or update materials,” she said.

Attendees will be entered in a drawing for a Dazbog gift card.

Scholarship for dedicated writers

The MSU Denver Writing Center is offering two $1,500 Committed Writer Scholarships to any student who has used the center’s services during the fall 2018 or spring 2019 semester.

“It’s not a contest to determine the ‘best’ writer,” Kleinfeld said. “Rather, we want to reward hardworking students who demonstrate a commitment to improving their writing.”

The scholarship, supported by a gift from an anonymous donor, is open to any undergraduate or graduate-level applicant and not contingent on specific major or grade-point average. Interested students should submit materials by March 15.

The proof is in the process

A new service available in the Writing Center’s Administration Building location is 2in20, focused on teaching students the ins and outs of proofreading.

In a 20-minute appointment, a tutor will first proof a piece of writing for five minutes, then talk through the edits in the next five, followed by a role-reversal wherein the student leads the same process to learn by modeling the approach.

“The thing about proofreading is that it’s really hard to teach,” Kleinfeld said. “For years, students would come to us struggling, asking us how to improve.”

A breakthrough came when one of the Writing Center’s lead consultants piloted the new approach; promising results from the effort led to the center’s scaling up of the practice.

“By having students demonstrate and ‘teach’ the process back, they immediately apply what they’re learning and gain,” Kleinfeld said.

Interested students can schedule an appointment online.