Online Tutoring Service
In addition to receiving personal tutoring sessions at the Center, Pitzer students can email a paper (15 pages or less) and receive feedback from a tutor by two business days. Quicker turnaround requires very short drafts of less than five pages.
Our online service is not designed to replace the need for face-to-face tutoring at the Center. Most students prefer the open discussion and immediate feedback they receive by coming in person to the Center. However, others will find the flexibility of the new online service extremely helpful.
The online tutoring service is most effective for students who:
- commute to campus or who struggle to find time to visit the Center in person
- are primarily concerned about the overall organization or structure of their paper
- can afford to wait a couple of days to receive feedback on a complete draft
- want quick turnaround on a partial or short draft not more than five pages
The online service is NOT designed for students who:
- value personal one-on-one interaction with a tutor to help them articulate their thoughts
- need immediate feedback on a completed paper
Tutoring Session Requirement at the Center
To encourage students to take advantage of the interactive one-on-one tutoring offered at the Writing Center, we ask students to visit the Center at least once before they use the online service. We want Pitzer students to experience the advantages of a personal face-to-face encounter with a tutor and to access other services the Center provides. However, New Resource students and students with extenuating circumstances may have this requirement waived.
Writing tutors may also ask a student to come in person to the Center for additional help on specific writing problems they have observed in the student’s paper.
How to Submit Your Paper
The online tutoring service is available to current Pitzer College students only. It is not available to the public or to students at other institutions. Please submit your paper using your Pitzer email address.
Compose an email to writing.online@pitzer.edu and include the following information in the body of your message.
- First and last name, email address, and phone number:
- Have you received at least one personal tutoring session at the Writing Center? (If you have not, we may ask you to visit the Center before using the online service.)
- Year in School:
- Is this assignment for a First Year Seminar?
- Professor's name, when the writing assignment is due and how long it is:
- Summarize your professor’s specific instructions, including style requirements, such as MLA or APA:
- What do you need help with? Please be specific!
- If you know it, provide the version of Microsoft Word you use:
After answering these questions, attach your paper in a .doc format. If you use a word processing program other than Microsoft Word, save your paper in a .rtf (rich text) format.
When you send the email to writing.online@pitzer.edu using your Pitzer email account, you will receive an immediate confirmation. Please use this address only for submitting papers online. Use our regular address, writing@pitzer.edu, for all other correspondence.
The turnaround time for feedback is approximately two business days for papers of 15 pages or less. If you have a longer paper, please allow more time for feedback. Papers over 30 pages need a minimum lead time of one week.
If you submit a paper and do not receive an automatic confirmation email, please email us again at writing@pitzer.edu or call us at 909-607-4321 during business hours.
After receiving your paper back from a tutor, incorporate the changes and suggestions into your final version. If you are using Microsoft Word, you can either right-click each change one at a time and decide whether to accept or reject it, or you can use the four buttons on the Track Changes toolbar: Previous, Next, Accept Change, and Reject Change/Delete Comment. These buttons will lead you through the changes and comments in sequential order.
