The Writing Centers at Itawamba Community College offer free, friendly, one-on-one writing consultations for all ICC students. The mission is working with students on their skill level on real assignments to improve their understanding of how college writing works.
The Writing Centers assist students by providing the following services:
To encourage your success at ICC, the Online Writing Center offers various resources, such as grammar tutorials, writing samples, research guides and database links to sharpen your writing skills.
The Internet is rich with resources that can assist with research, writing, understanding and interpretation. Use the links below for accessing dictionaries and other tools to enhance the writing process.
The links below provide a review of research strategies, tools and samples, as well as a guide to reputable documentation styles.
The following links offer a review of the composition of an essay. Refer to appropriate links above for assistance with related grammar or research needs.
As a service to ICC's students, peer consultants at the Writing Centers will read submissions of student writing and make suggestions for improvement. The consultants will neither edit submissions nor otherwise "fix" them merely to earn a higher grade. The Center concurs with Stephen North when he says, "Our job is to produce better writers, not better writing."
If you would like for our consultants to read your work, submit it in a Microsoft Word document to writing_center@iccms.edu. You may expect a response within 48 hours.
What Consultants Do
What Consultants Do Not Do
What to Bring/Submit
Use Microsoft Word for all online submissions. The email address for online submissions is (writing_center@iccms.edu).
Click here to make an appointment in a Writing Center.
If you are making an appointment for the first time, you must register. Click the link, "Click here to register", at the top of the "Make an Appointment" page and use your school email address. Remember to make your password one that you can remember.
If you have already registered, you will need your email address and password to log in. Once you see the schedule after logging in, click on the white box that represents the time and consultant you would like for your appointment. You will answer questions about the course, instructor and assignment. When you save that appointment, the box you clicked will turn yellow. To cancel an appointment, click on the yellow box and then click "Cancel this Appointment" at the bottom of the new window. You will receive email confirmations of scheduled and canceled appointments.
Use Microsoft Word for all online submissions. Address for the Online Center submissions: writing_center@iccms.edu
Can I schedule an appointment to work in the Writing Center? Yes! We have a very easy-to-use appointment calendar online. You can make an appointment from any computer at any time by going to www.iccms.mywconline.com. You will be asked to register if this is your first time making an appointment. Once you have registered, you will be able to sign in and view the empty times on our appointment calendar. Click on one of those times that is convenient for you and fill in the information blanks. Then click “Save Appointment.” Your appointment will be saved, and that time will be yours.
How many times should I work on an essay? We like for students to work on essays as many times as they can. We try to work on three to four issues in each consultation. If an essay has many issues, more than one consultation may be necessary in order to address all of the issues.
Can I have more than one appointment in a day? Absolutely! A student can make many appointments per day. However, students should plan time between appointments to address the issues discussed in the previous appointment. This will ensure that consultants do not continue addressing old issues.
What should I bring with me when I come for a Writing Center appointment? Bring your assignment sheet, guidelines and/or notes from class. All of the important documents will help your consultant fully understand the assignment and will help him/her determine on which writing skills the assignment focuses. You should also have some paper and a pencil or pen so you can make your own notes about the consultation and discussions.
Can I bring a paper that is not for an English class to the Writing Center for help? Yes! The Writing Center helps students will all types of writing. We frequently work with students on biology and nursing essays, art and theatre reviews and business documents like resumes'.
What are some "higher concerns" that Writing Center Consultants review first? When we review a piece of writing with a student, we want to ensure we use the student’s time in the most effective way. We try to look at the bigger picture first—the thesis, organization and coherence of the essay—and then the smaller issues. The bigger picture doesn’t mean the other issues are less important; it just means that the small issues might change if some of the big picture stuff changes. Imagine if we looked for comma issues throughout the essay and then at the end the consultant said, “Now you have to rewrite these parts because they don’t make sense in this essay.” We would have wasted time looking for small stuff when those issues are going to be rewritten anyway.
What are the "lower concerns" for which the Writing Center looks? When a consultant talks about “lower concerns,” he/she means small sentence level issues that generally fall under the category of editing. Consultants will point out grammar, punctuation and mechanics issues that a student finds consistently troubling. Consultants will explain the issue and will give examples of how to fix the issue and prevent its happening in the future.
Can I drop off a paper for someone to review while I do something else? No. Each student must be present in order to receive help from a consultant. Our consultants are not allowed to work on essays without the student because this would be academic dishonesty since the essay and ideas in the essay do not belong to the consultant. Dropping off a paper for someone else to “fix” would also cause issues for the student and could result in expulsion from the course.
What if I work after class and can't visit the Writing Center before it closes? Can I still receive help? Yes! We offer an Online Writing Center. All you need to do is attach your assignment as a Word document or rich text file to an email and send it to writing_center@iccms.edu.
Fulton Campus Crubaugh Technical Education Building 101 Monday-Friday (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) Library Monday-Thursday (6-9 p.m.)
Tupelo Campus Student Suppport Center 122 Monday-Friday (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.)
Online Submissions writing_center@iccms.edu