Graduate Students
The Center for Excellence in Writing has proven to be a powerful resource for graduate students.
One-On-One Writing Consultations
Feel free to come in with specific questions, for a brainstorming session, or to request feedback on a specific aspect of your work. While we may not have a consultant in your discipline, sometimes a thoughtful outside reader can provide you with a valuable perspective about the clarity of your work. There are times when just talking it out with a peer can help you unknot the inevitable tangles in your project.
We can help you with a wide variety of writing projects including:
Even though I had a rather difficult and exclusive topic, he took the time to understand necessary concepts in order to approach the essay."
The CEW helped me a lot in both my dissertation and drafts of my journal papers."
- Course papers
- Dissertations
- Theses
- Proposals
- Job application materials
- Conference Presentations
- Group Projects
- Journal articles
New Service: Dissertation Buddies
We're proud to announce a new program through which you can gain the benefit of regular feedback from a PhD level consultant combined with mutual support - a space to discuss the "soft skills" of dissertation writing and co-create an accountability structure. Let's do it together!
Dissertation Writing Group
Work on your dissertation or thesis in a structured group of like-minded graduate students! The hybrid group meets each Thursday from 6 to 9 PM in 128 Capen and over Zoom.
A Seat at the Table: A Writing Group for Graduate Students of Color
Dedicate time to focus on your writing with a group committed to fostering community, mindfulness, and productivity. All disciplines are welcome. Coffee and snacks provided! We invite you to join our weekly hybrid meetings each Sunday from 1:30pm to 4:30pm, beginning September 8th. Participate in person at the CEW (17 Norton), or Zoom in if you cannot make it to campus! We are also excited to share that we will be hosting a two-day writing retreat on October 26th and 27th (breakfast and lunch will be provided). Can't wait to see you there!
For more information please email brrice@buffalo.edu or sherikac@buffalo.edu.
Click here to access the group Zoom room.
On October 27th from 10 AM to 4 PM, we will meet for a special all-day writing retreat. See details below!
Other Dissertation Support Programs
For graduate students working on dissertations and other large projects, the CEW hosts programs to provide space, accountability, and community to help you make consistent forward progress toward your goals. Programs include:
Writing Retreats – 4 to 5 days of intensive work on your project, framed by discussion, goal setting and experience sharing. Participants report making surges of progress, breaking through obstacles, and finding newfound momentum in their writing projects. In person or Zoom formats available.
Mini-Writing Retreats – Similar to regular retreats, but one day. Keep your momentum moving forward over the summer with these opportunities for intensive work, community and accountability. In person or Zoom formats available.
Dissertation Café An opportunity to get together with others to explore effective strategies for navigating the process of dissertation writing.
Join our listserv (see below) to get the current schedule of events and to receive regular reminders of support programs. Questions? Email writing@buffalo.edu
Click here to subscribe to our Graduate Writing Support listserv to receive occasional emails about our various graduate writing and dissertation support programs and events.
Enter the listserv name "CEW-GRAD-WRITING-SUPPORT-LIST" in the box, then enter your UB email. If you are unsure whether or not you are already subscribed, email us at writing@buffalo.edu or check out the listserv FAQ page. You can also unsubscribe using the same subscription link above.
I like the retreat for hearing the collective struggles and successes of the group. It makes me feel part of a community of writers.
I would participate in this every day until my dissertation was complete, if it was available.
Using the GSA editing service in conjunction with CEW consultations
Since CEW consultants are not copy-editors and our work with writers is interactive, we encourage you to use a combination of CEW consulting services and the Graduate Student Association's free copy-editing services.
The GSA can be used for straightforward copy-editing work that can be done outside of your presence. Working with a CEW consultant is best for planning revisions and making editorial changes that need to be discussed to make sure your meaning is preserved. The CEW may also help you with stylistic revisions to make your work easier and more pleasing for your audience to read.
If you need both levels of work, it is a great idea to use both GSA and CEW services. For example, you could get copy-editing out of the way before you meet with a CEW consultant. Or you could work with a CEW consultant first on revisions related to meaning and then send your draft out for copy-editing. CEW consultants can also help you to respond to revision suggestions made by the GSA copy-editor.
You can submit up to 50 pages at a time to the GSA. For full dissertations, students should plan to submit chapters individually and several months in advance of the deadline. Turnaround time for documents submitted to the GSA is roughly two weeks. The GSA also has a Live Chat feature in which you can speak to an editor for a quick copy-edit of a short document (300 words or less), or questions related to grammar and formatting.
Here is the link to access GSA copy-editing services:
https://ubgsaedit.wixsite.com/gsa-editorial
Write Through: Dissertation Inspiration!
Write Through: Dissertation Inspiration is an article series which tells the stories of all the unique ways UB alums have made their way through the dissertation journey - and in a timely fashion as well! Strategies abound!
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions about our Graduate level writing and consultations services. If you can't find an answer to your question here, please reach out to us at writing@buffalo.edu.
We employ MA and PhD level consultants from a variety of disciplines. Our graduate consultants are successful writers in their disciplines and also may have coursework in composition pedagogy and/or experience teaching writing.
Please note: We employ both undergraduate and graduate level consultants. If you are a graduate student, be sure to select a consultant at the appropriate level (designated as M.A. or PhD.)
We may, but we may not. Because of their experience with writing instruction and focus on language, many of our consultants are from English. We are always looking to diversify our consultant pool, but it is impossible to represent every discipline. You should not expect that your consultant be an expert in your content area. Our consultants are, however, very good at helping you gain perspective on the writing process, evaluating and discussing the rhetorical elements of texts, providing thoughtful and sensitive readings of your work, as well as helping with stylistic and grammatical elements of texts. Sometimes it is not an expert that you need, just a thoughtful reader with whom to “talk it out.”
While we can look at an electronic version with you on your laptop, many consultants prefer working with a hard copy that can be easily viewed and that you can mark up during the session. So, if you can, bring a hard copy along with any specific questions or areas of concern. You will direct the agenda of the session.
Our sessions are generally around 45 minutes long, so there is only so much that can be covered in that time. If your paper is very long, decide which portion or portions you want to focus upon. You can schedule follow-up appointments as needed.
The CEW is a great place for international students because working one-to-one with a native speaker who understands the process of language acquisition is perhaps the most efficient way to grow as a writer. We also have multilingual, international writing consultants who understand your experience and the language learning journey. Improving proficiency in written English is a long process, so many international students choose to schedule regular, ongoing appointments. As an added benefit, working one-to-one with a native speaking peer gives you excellent conversational practice as well!
The CEW is not an editing service. The GSA has an editing service that is paid through your student fees. If that service does not meet you needs, you may want to consider hiring an editor for the final stages of your wriitng process. The CEW provides collaborative, one-to-one attention to your writing, for example when editorial changes might affect meaning that requires discussion. Sometimes a combination of consultations and a traditional editing service might be a good solution. The CEW does try to maintain a list of graduate students or recent PhD graduates who offer editing services on a freelance basis.