Welcome to WCONLINE, your home for scheduling appointments at West Point's William D. Mounger '48 Writing Center!
Check back regularly for new appointment availability!
THE BASICS
The Mounger Writing Center (MWC) is on the second floor of Jefferson Hall. During the regular academic year, our normal hours are Mon-Thurs afternoons (1300-1600) and evenings (2000-2200). The MWC is usually closed on modified schedule days as well as holidays and holiday weekends.
The MWC sponsors one-on-one peer consultations, group workshops, and special events for cadets working on any writing or communications project, for any purpose. All appointments are conducted by cadets in the Stokes Fellows Program. In addition to assignments for coursework, the MWC also offers consultations for projects connected to personal interests or professional opportunities. Peer consultants are trained to assist you at any stage of your process, whether clarifying an initial focus, developing a thesis, structuring an argument, integrating and documenting sources, or revising and polishing a draft.
KEY TIPS
How can I make the most out of these sessions? Ensure your appointment form is accurate and detailed regarding the assignment and your concerns; prepare a plan of attack, with your main concerns, prior to arriving for your appointment. You may upload your assignment to the appointment if you cannot print it out to bring with you. When you arrive, you and your consultant will determine together the best way forward for your individual session.
How much of my writing will my consultant be able to read and respond to in your 45-minute sessions? For a number of reasons, our consultants aren't able to read drafts in advance. During any given session, we will likely only be able to read and discuss effectively with you around 8-10 pages of double-spaced writing. If your project is longer, consider a second appointment.
What if I have specific concerns about proofreading? We will absolutely help you identify patterns of error and awkwardness in your writing, especially ones that obscure your meaning, guide you to relevant learning resources, and selectively model different editing and proofreading options available to you. We also recommend that you continue to draw on peers for proofreading assistance and to enlist proofreading tools embedded in MS Word as well as free online resources (such as Purdue OWL and helpful extensions, though you should always observe relevant guidelines from your instructor and the DAAW when it comes to using digital resources in particular.
What should I expect overall? It's important to remember your project is your work, and that consultants are not instructors; we're generalists, not necessarily subject matter experts. We won't edit edit or proofread your paper for you, nor speculate about the grade it might receive. Instead, we act as informed, critical readers; above all we aim to advance your learning and development. Think of us as sounding boards for how effectively you're shaping your argument; we also look to advise you about general principles of effective writing, as they bear on the specific writing project you bring to us. We'll address higher order concerns of substance and organization as well as 'later order' concerns, such as patterns of error or awkwardness in style or mechanics. Bottom line: we focus on guiding a conversation with you that will enable you to improve your own work.
KEY POLICIES
- See our website for Cadet FAQ.
- Clients are not to schedule any appointments on the same day their assignment is due.
- Clients may schedule a maximum of two appointments total for any given (discrete) project; exceptions need approval from MWC leadership.
- Clients may schedule only one appointment per day.
- Cadets must cite all MWC sessions in their submitted work according to DAAW guidelines.
- Email MWC@westpoint.edu with any questions.
