The Writing Center supports all UCSC Students writing in all genres. We at The Writing Center know the benefit of having supportive tutors and mentors that value writers and help students develop productive writing processes. We offer a thoughtful sounding board for the development of ideas, and give feedback on writing mechanics, content, and structure. In one-on-one tutoring sessions and in writing groups, we provide clarification for all stages and all genres of written work. We help students tackle essays, dissertation chapters, outlines, graduate school applications, grant applications, class papers, CVs, and more.
Our tutors and mentors are writers and teachers from diverse academic specialties. They either hold or are currently pursuing graduate degrees. Our individual tutoring is for both undergraduate and graduate students. Our writing groups are for graduate students.
We are here to be part of your writing community. Bring us your budding ideas, your developing thoughts, your unpunctuated drafts, or your final polishing needs—we will meet you where you are in your writing process!
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Services
The Writing Center works with all students, in all genres, at all stages of the writing process, including the following:
- Undergraduate Students
- Graduate Students
- Transfer Students
- International Students
- English Language Learners
- Disability Resource Center-Supported Students
- Students in College 1; Writing 25 and 26; and Writing 1/1E and 2/2H
Writing Processes:
- Prewriting: including essay planning, brainstorming, generating ideas, outlining, formulating arguments, and crafting theses
- Writing: including addressing audience, tone, and genre; structuring writing; addressing grammar, mechanics, and citation practices; close reading, rhetorical analysis, and critical thinking
- Revising: including restructuring, rethinking, writing for clarity, and collaborative editing and proofreading
- Exploring: your writing process and understanding your strengths and needs
Academic and Creative Writing:
- All Undergraduate Academic Writing Assignments, including Expository and Research Essays, and both low- and high-stakes assignments
- Capstone Writing Requirements, including theses, senior essays, and senior projects
- Narrative and Fictional Writing
- Graduate Seminar Papers
- Proposals
- Dissertation Chapters
- Articles
Professional Development Documents:
- Resumes and CVs
- Personal Statements
- Artist Statements
- Scholarship Applications
- Transfer and Graduate School Applications
- Employment Applications
- Fellowship Applications
- Grant Applications
Hours
| Monday | 10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Tuesday | 10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Wednesday | 10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Thursday | 10:00am – 5:00pm |
| Friday | 10:00am – 3:00pm |
By appointment only. Unscheduled walk-in tutoring sessions are not available. Please note that the Writing Center hours of operation are different each day.
Location
The Writing Center office is in Room 111 of the Oakes Academic Building, however, the center is currently operating ONLINE ONLY. Make an appointment to meet virtually with our Writing Mentors!
- To Schedule an Online Tutoring Session: ucsc.mywconline.com
Contact Us
For any general Writing Center questions and concerns please contact The Writing Center at: writeon@ucsc.edu
To partner with The Writing Center or co-host an event, contact Writing Center Associate Director Jaime Cortez at writeon@ucsc.edu
Our Team
Jaime Cortez
Associate Director of the
Writing Center
jcorte41@ucsc.edu
Jaime has worked in the arts nonprofit sector for over 25 years, serving as a program manager, teaching artist, and arts grantmaker. His visual art has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Jaime has worked at Galería de la Raza, The SF Foundation, the SF Arts Commission, the Hewlett Foundation, the California College of the Arts, among other Universities. He is the author of “Gordo,” an acclaimed collection of semi-autobiographical short stories. He received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MFA from UC Berkeley.
Dr. Marcia Ochoa
GANAS Graduate Co-PI
Oakes Provost
Associate Professor of Feminist Studies
oaksprov@ucsc.edu
Marcia is an anthropologist specialized in the ethnography of media. Their first book, Queen for a Day (Duke University Press, 2014) is on the accomplishment of femininity among beauty pageant contestants (misses) and transgender women (transformistas) in Venezuala.
Ochoa’s work focuses on the role of the imaginary in the survival of queer and transgender people in Latin America, and the place of these subjects in the nation.
Marcia works with El/La Para TransLatinas in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA to develop programming and social justice work that promotes transgender Latina participation and reflects the style and grace of translatina survival.
Marcia is co-editor, Ex-Oficio (2014-20) of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies.Research Interests: Transgender studies, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, Latina/o studies, performance studies, media and cultural studies, ethnography of media, feminism, queer theory, multimedia production, Latin American studies—Colombia and Venezuela, citizenship and social participation, Social Documentation, colonial historiography.