The Writing Center provides tutoring in writing to all UMBC students. You can bring in a writing assignment for any UMBC course as well as seek help with resumes, application essays (or personal statements) and letters, and personal writing.

The Writing Center offers both APPOINTMENT TUTORING AND WALK-IN TUTORING! To make an appointment, go to http://umbc.mywconline.com. Create an account using your UMBC email, and choose from a wide range of tutors and appointment times to schedule a session that fits your needs. (Note: appointments must be made at least a day in advance, but if you need a same-day appointment, you can always just walk in.)

The Writing Center's goal is to help you become an independent writer as you work with a tutor on these writing issues:

• The generation of ideas
• Thesis statements and paper unity
• Organization
• Content that is clear and adequately developed
• Introductions and conclusions
• Transition and coherence
• Sentence and paragraph structure
• Documentation
• Spelling, grammar, writing mechanics
• Other important writing issues

In a tutoring session, you have the opportunity to receive an objective view of your writing from a friendly and skilled writer. Another person's opinion is always helpful! As a result of your discussion with the tutor, troublesome writing can become stronger and strong writing can become even better.

A writing session usually lasts between 30-60 minutes, so plan to spend that amount of time. To help you experience a productive session, please do the following:

Summer 2015 Hours

Location

Courses

MATH 150, MATH 151, MATH 152, MATH 155 and MATH 251

Summer 2015 Hours

Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Location

Sondheim Hall (SOND) 109

The inspiring video “Strength in Numbers: Inside the Meyerhoff Scholars Program” has won a 2015 Telly Award.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) created this video for a feature article in The HHMI Bulletin focused on the supportive community at the heart of UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars Program.

“Strength in Numbers” was filmed at the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars retreat in the fall of 2013 and featured several scholars speaking about how the program has helped them. It is available to view through the HHMI website.

Blossom Tewelde ’14, biochemistry and molecular biology, spoke to The HHMI Bulletin about the importance of diversity in the sciences. “I can count on one hand all of the black female physician-scientists I’ve met in my life,” she said. “It can be hard to imagine yourself somewhere without that picture in your mind.”

Tewelde went on to talk about how she’s giving back to the Meyerhoff community as a peer advisor, saying, “I will support younger scholars the same way I’ve been supported. It’s just something about Meyerhoff—there’s a sense of ownership. Any Meyerhoff anywhere will take you in with open arms.”

The Telly Awards program honors top videos, films, and commercials, and received nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries this year. “Strength in Numbers” received a bronze in the nonprofit online video category.

“Students come into college interested in STEM, but [schools] do a lot of things to push them away,” LaCourse said. He urged colleges to rethink the way they teach STEM courses and make student retention a campus-wide effort. LaCourse also discusses STEM BUILD@UMBC, a holistic student support initiative supported by a National Institutes of Health grant. The initiative uses professional advisors, supportive student communities, and inter-collegiate collaboration to better engage students. “This country needs more scientists, more medical professionals, and more technology gurus… and achieving that goal starts with active, interesting learning that keeps students engaged throughout their educational careers and beyond,” he said.

The article also quoted a previous conversation with President Hrabowski on the same topic. In the article, Dr. Hrabowki spoke about “weed-out” classes as part of the problem in students leaving STEM majors.

Click here to read “Universities share best practices to retain STEM students.”

Supplemental Instruction (SI) provides regularly scheduled study sessions outside of class. A trained student peer helps students compare notes, discuss readings, develop organizational tools and practice for tests. The Learning Resources Center will coordinate SI for selected courses in the summer sessions.

Supplemental Instruction will be available for the following courses during Summer 2015:

• BIOL 302 - Molecular and General Genetics
• CHEM 123 - Introduction to General Organic and Biochemistry
• ENCH 215 - Chemical Engineering Analysis
• PHYS 121 - Introductory Physics I
• MATH 106 - Algebra and Elementary Functions (session 2 only)
• MATH 150 - Precalculus Mathematics (session 2 only)

SI leaders will make an announcement during class to organize the time and location of study sessions.