Email Consultations
What makes an Email Consultation different?
Email consultations, unlike all of our other services, are not synchronous; meaning, writers are asked to submit their papers using our scheduling system Book It. Consultants are then given 72 hours to respond with feedback, and the papers are returned to the student with written feedback based on areas of concern highlighted by the writer or based on areas noticed by the consultant during their 1 hour of review/reading time.
Please note that you can submit up to 2 projects/drafts at a time. Once you receive feedback, you are more than welcome to submit another assignment!
Eligibility for Email Consultations
An Email Consultation is a great tool for writers...
- who don't have access to our physical campus locations or whose schedules prevent them from accessing other online or evening service options
- who are graduate students and have longer more demanding assignments
- who are recent graduates of GVSU and need writing support applying for jobs or gaining admission into professional and/or graduate school
- who are exclusively taking online classes
- who are taking hybrid courses that only meet in person at the beginning of the semester (such as AHS 301, 321, 340, 495)
- who are stationed off-campus, studying abroad or attending one of our satellite campuses (Traverse City, Muskegon, Holland, or Detroit)
Submitting a Project
Through Book It, submitting your project for an email consultation can be easy and quick!
Graduate students automatically have access to our email consultation service within Book It. If you are not a graduate student or do not see email consultation access within your Book It account, you are welcome to fill out an Additional Services Request form or contact Patrick Johnson, Writing Center Director ([email protected]) to inquire about adding email consultation access to your account.
Once you are added, when you log into Book It you will find a button on the top navigation bar that says "New Email Review." Simply click that button, submit your draft, and add a few details to help show the consultant what you would like them to focus their attention on.
Once you submit a project, one of our trained peer writing consultants will return your draft back to you with embedded feedback within 72 hours of the submitted request. Your feedback can be accessed through the response email you will receive, or through logging back into your Book It account. Click the button on the right to submit a new email consultation request today!
**Note: The writing center is dedicated to getting papers back within the 72 hour window, but during peak usage times, some back-up is to be expected. Be sure to take long waits and long lines into consideration when submitting papers through our email service -- it is still first come, first served.
Email Consultation FAQ
Have more questions about Email Consultations? Review the information below or contact us!
When will I get my paper back after submitting in Book It?
First, every paper submitted receives one hour of attention. This hour happens on a first come, first served basis - meaning, our consultants work through the submission list and return papers in order of receiving them.
Second, all papers are returned to the writer within 72 hours of submission. If you do not receive your paper back within 72 hours, please contact us.
Third, if you submit your paper during our open-hours, the 72 hours will begin immediately upon submission. If you submit your paper during our closed-hours (weekends, holidays, breaks, etc.), the 72 hours will begin upon the next open-hour post your submission.
How many times can I submit in a week?
Students are limited to 2 submissions in the queue at a time.
We have a limited staff for reviewing email submissions, the feedback they provide is often in-depth, and we want to provide equal service to as many students as possible. We require, therefore, that writers limit submissions so that our staff can provide the most helpful feedback possible, and so that you can address all feedback before resubmitting or overloading yourself with revisions across multiple assignments.
How long can my submissions be?
Consultants are trained to provide in-depth feedback in an hour's worth of reading and typically cover 10-12 pages.
If you submit something longer than 10-12 pages, you may be asked to submit the later pages for further feedback.
What type of feedback will I receive?
Our writing consultants are trained to provide you with a wide range of feedback. This can include feedback on specific areas of concern that you note in your submission form or other patterns that the consultant notices.
Writing consultants may provide you with feedback such as:
- Questions about content, tone, research, organization, and analysis
- Suggest and provide links to helpful resources
- Other observations and notes on consultant experience and impressions while reading the text
What are the limits on consultant feedback?
Our consultants are trained to provide helpful and in-depth feedback; however, there are limits as to what a consultant can do while reviewing your draft.
Writing consultants are not expected to:
- Proofread or edit papers
- Re-write areas of your paper
- Read papers for more than 1 hour at a time (this usually means that submissions longer than 10-15 pages will need to be resubmitted for further attention)
- Offer an evaluation of the text or provide grades or general assessment (ex: "This is a good/bad draft")
