About the VOCES Graduate Student Writing Center program, and other graduate student resources.
The VOCES Graduate Writing Center is open to all students consistent with state and federal law, the UC Nondiscrimination Statement and the Nondiscrimination Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Student-Related Matters.
VOCES is supported by GANAS Graduate Pathways – a Title V, Part B Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program funded by the US Department of Education. VOCES, as part of GANAS Graduate Pathways, supports Latinx graduate students’ writing proficiency, sense of belonging, and degree completion. Though VOCES is intended to support graduate degrees for Latinx students, students of color, and low-income students, we serve all graduate students.
We offer one-on-one writing tutoring and graduate student writing groups staffed by The Writing Center’s skilled Writing Mentors, all of whom either hold or are pursuing graduate degrees and have backgrounds in writing teaching, tutoring, and/or mentoring. We specialize in supporting graduate students writing for seminars, qualifying exams, dissertation drafts, CVs, fellowship applications, proposals, and more. Bring us your budding ideas, your developing thoughts, your unpunctuated drafts, or your final polishing needs. We are here to work with you!
VOCES also supports Rebellious Chingone Writers for Liberation, a graduate writing group open to all. This writing group meets weekly on Thursdays from 12:30 PM till 2:30pm, and hosts periodic writing retreats. Please scroll down for detailed information about the group.
VOCES offers periodic writing workshops facilitated by seasoned writing coaches/mentors. Writing workshop coaches offer custom-designed writing curricula and practices that actively support sustainable, generative, and joyful writing practices. Recent workshops themes have included how to turn data and statistics into a compelling narrative, how to incorporate meditation and breathwork into a writing practice, and how to use online citation and research management platforms like Zotero and Scrivener.
To make an individual tutoring appointment, click this link to the Writing Center’s appointment page. There you will get information on how to schedule a writing assistance session, and a link to the online scheduling website (ucsc.mywconline). Once there, click “Schedules” in the top navigation bar and select the “Grad Student Writing Support Winter 2026” schedule.
Graduate Student Peer Writing Support:
REBELLIOUS CHINGONE WRITERS FOR LIBERATION (Writing Group):
Purpose: All graduate students are welcome to join the Rebellious Chingone Writers for Liberation writing group. We are a collective of radical, rebellious, chingone/x graduate students dedicated to writing together in community. Our vision is to create a recurring communal writing space, share strategies, challenge dominant narratives and spaces, and breathe life into ourselves and our writing projects. We offer weekly writing groups and periodic writing retreats.
Date/Time for Winter 2026Writing Group Sessions (January 8 – March 12)
The group meets Thursdays from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: Hybrid (In-person + Zoom). In-person location is Social Sciences Building 2, Room 56.
To Join: Please complete this intake form.
Contact: For more information or to join the writing group, contact graduate writing group mentor Sylvane Vaccarino
Campus Resources:
Writing and Communication Resources: (From the Division of Graduate Studies)
These programs and other student resources will help graduate students present information effectively and persuasively in written, oral, digital, and other formats.
The Graduate Student Commons (GSC) is a comfortable and welcoming space that serves a wide spectrum of graduate students and fosters graduate student interaction and a sense of community. The GSC promotes graduate student academic well-being, success, and camaraderie. It offers a variety of spaces, including small study rooms, computer terminals, and a lounge for social interaction. Students are welcome to drop in between classes where they may check email, hold office hours, attend or hold a meeting, or join a homework study group, for example.
- Introduction to resources available at UCSC Libraries
- How-to guide for citing sources and links to style guides
- Zotero
- In-browser citation tool that collects and stores websites for citations.
- Library support for Zotero.
- Video explaining how to use Zotero.
- Zotero
- Talk with a Librarian