Enrichment

The Writing Center provides free professional one-on-one tutoring to members of the Mines community, to assist them with any writing project that is at any stage of the writing process. Our professional consultants (many of whom are expert teachers and writers themselves) can help with brainstorming, organization, creative generation, citation, documentation, technical and scientific writing, grammar, syntax and mechanics for native speakers and for ESL students. These tutors will work on first and final drafts and everything in between! While we don’t simply proofread or edit papers, our aim is to give writers the tools and techniques they need to learn how to do it for themselves.

Starting with the Fall 2017 semester, we will be offering student tutors, trained by our professional tutors, for the first time.

To visit the Writing Center, please go to our online scheduler at mines.mywconline.com. Log in or register for an account with your Mines email address. You will then be able to see the entire schedule and make, change, or cancel appointments. Appointments are 50 minutes in length (30 minutes are also available, but rarely can a tutor give the help they need to in the shorter time-frame, so be selective). We find that most students underestimate the time needed to work on their writing, so please be sure to have a good plan and good understanding of what you need from our tutors. If you need to cancel, you must do so at least one hour before your appointment time or the system will mark you as a no-show. After three no-shows, you will be locked out of the system. If you have questions about the schedule or making appointments, please contact Professor Melanie Brandt or Professor Seth Tucker.

The Writing Center is located on the first floor of Alderson Hall, Room 133.

Spring 2018 tutor hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. For student tutor hours, see the scheduler.

Thesis Formatting Hours: (fall and spring semesters)

No appointment is necessary for this service. Walk-in thesis formatting help is offered two to three weeks before an upload deadline. Students can bring a paper or electronic copy of their thesis for a format review. Students can receive help with formatting questions such as margins, visual aids, page numbers, white space and table of contents.

CASA Student tutors*: (fall and spring semesters)

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY! The Center for Academic Services and Advising also provides student tutoring on campus; student tutors are trained and mentored by our professional tutors to be able to help with specific writing needs and common problems that Mines students often have in classes like Human Systems, NHV and Field Session.

*All Writing Center peer tutors are located in the Arthur Lakes Library, while Allyce Horan has hours in CASA

CASA tutoring schedule

Learning and Teaching

Designing Effective Assignments:

Scaffolding formal assignments
Write-to-learn activities
Assignments that work
Collaborative writing assignments
Designing effective assignments
Grading Strategies:

How to reduce grading time and stress
Why writers make mistakes and what we can do to help them
Alternative grading models: Helpful hints
Alternative grading models: essay exams
Alternative grading models: portfolio
Alternative grading models: holistic grading
Making grades more than just letters
Responding to and evaluating student writing
Response strategies: The good, bad, and the ugly

Writing Across the Curriculum

2011 WAC Report

Best Practices

Chemical Engineering
Chemistry & Geochemistry
Economics & Business
Engineering
Geology
Geophysics
Mathematical & Computer Science
Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
Mining Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Physics
Statement of Goals and Objectives

Writing-Intensive Course Guidelines

Writing Tutorials

Connect to a variety of writing tutorials, including information on writing processes and types of writing: http://writing.colostate.edu/activities/

More Resources

Review further resources online through a generous agreement with Colorado State University: http://writing.colostate.edu/links/

Online Composition Handbook and Grammar Guide

Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) is developed and maintained by graduate students in their PhD program, and is one of the most up to date databases out there. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/

At Mines–The Arthur Lakes Library

The Arthur Lakes Library develops innovative services and facilities, provides access to and preserves knowledge, and enhances the learning, teaching, and research at Colorado School of Mines. http://library.mines.edu

The Blackwell Award in Creative Expression was established in 2006 and recognizes those who have excelled in the evocative representation of the human condition through the genres of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, music, or the artistic representation of academic inquiry. This $250 award is granted semi-annually. The HASS faculty nominate students who have produced a creative work of stunning originality. Valued themes for this award include the human condition; humanity’s relationship with nature, technology, and/or science; the essence or spirit of a given culture; globalization. Submissions represent a unique vision, revelation, or insight and show mastery of a chosen genre.

The Frank Oppenheimer Science and Society Award was founded in 2005 and is awarded jointly each semester by the Division of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the Department of Physics. The award recognizes excellence in first-year (freshman) writing in the form of a paper produced in LAIS 100, Nature and Human Values (NHV) that examines social, ethical, economic, historical, political, and/or environmental issues. Named after Frank Oppenheimer, atomic physicist and brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose role in the Manhattan Project is studied in LAIS 100. This is a $400 award. Each NHV writing instructor submits one paper for consideration. The recipient is chosen by a panel of two judges from the NHV lecturing faculty and one judge from the Physics faculty. HASS and Physics gratefully acknowledge Mr. Oppenheimer’s family for allowing us to use his name for this award.

The Maryanna Bell Kafadar Humanities Award was established in 1987 by Ahmed D. Kafadar (Engineer of Mines, 1942; M.S., 1943) in honor of his late wife. This $500 award is given each semester to a graduating senior who has excelled in the study of the humanities and who has contributed to the cultural life of the CSM campus. HASS faculty nominate students; a selection committee then reviews nominations and makes a determination as to whether there is an appropriate recipient in any given semester.

Established in 2006 by former HASS Division Director, Associate Vice President for Academic & Faculty Affairs, and current Professor Emeritus Arthur B. Sacks, this award is designed to recognize an academic project or activity that promotes thoughtful environmental sustainability.