Graduate Student Services - The Writing Center- Oakland University

The OUWC isn't just for undergraduates. Graduate students occupy a writing-rich environment, one in which they must write on demand. Our staff includes university faculty and graduate students who can offer assistance as you:

Draft or revise a manuscript for publication
Craft an assignment
Document accomplishments for tenure review
Compose a thesis or dissertation
Assemble a teaching portfolio
Construct a personal statement
Revise a curriculum vitae
Generate a proposal or mission statement
Prepare a syllabus, scaffold assignments, and offer feedback to student submissions

To schedule an appointment, make a referral, or request an in-class seminar or consultation, please send an e-mail to ouwc@oakland.edu or give us a call at (248) 370-3120.

GRADUATE SPECIFIC PROGRAMMING

Sit Down and Write!

If you are writing an article or have commenced writing your thesis or dissertation, you might benefit from a program that has served many of OU's newly minted PhDs. The concept is rather simple. You bring a computer, anything with which you need to compose, and the willingness to "sit down and write." We provide a comfortable, distraction-free environment; snacks and lunch; targeted but brief break-out discussions; and limited consulting support for those who need it.

Sit Down and Write! runs on select Saturdays from 9 AM to 3 PM in 242 Kresge Library. To register for all or one of the following dates, click here:

September 28

October 5

October 26

November 16

December 7

Dissertation 101

If you need more than accountability, such as support for specific tasks like drafting your IRB, representing the results of your statistical analyses, avoiding plagiarism or copyright infringement, and storing your data to protect its integrity and your participants' privacy, register for one of the following Dissertation 101 Workshops by clicking here.

Tuesday, September 17 at 6:00 PM (Room TBA): Preparing for and Launching Your Academic Job Search with Missie Smith, Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering. If you are nearing program completion or would like to know more about the academic job search, this is the session for you.

Thursday, September 26 at 6:00 PM in 242 Kresge Library: Documenting, Organizing and Storing Your Research Data. Knowing how to best document, organize and store your data is an important consideration, whether you are taking classes, preparing to defend, or working at any stage in between. In this session, Research Data Librarian Joanna Thielen shares ways to help you:
• Document your data so it makes sense later
• Organize your data so you can find it late
• Store your data safely and securely

Tuesday, October 8 at 6:00 PM in 242 Kresge Library: Copyright and Fair Use. In this session, Associate Professor and Librarian Julia Rodriguez examines intellectual property rights and discusses appropriate use of copyrighted material.

Thursday, October 10 at 6:00 PM: Navigating the IRB Process (Room TBA). If you are about to compose your IRB, you won't want to miss this session with Dr. Judette Haddad, Regulatory Compliance Coordinator, and Kate Wydeven, Regulatory Compliance Specialist, The Research Office at OU.

Wednesday, October 30 at 6:00 PM in 242 Kresge Library: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Reporting Your Statistical Results. In this session, the Writing Center's Ashley Mueller, Writing Center, discusses some of the most common statistical reporting errors and shares strategies for avoiding them.

Tuesday, November 12 at 6:00 PM in 242 Kresge Library: Synthesizing the Literature in High Stakes Documents. Writing Center Director Sherry Wynn Perdue, Ph.D., discusses the features of effective literature reviews and highlights common problems writers encounter as they work to represent the literature within their publications, theses, and dissertations.