As fall sets in, more and more students are drowning in writing assignments, papers, presentations, and even graduate school applications and job resumes. For those looking for free help with their writing, Boise State’s on-campus Writing Center can provide hands-on support.
The Writing Center is located on the second floor of the Liberal Arts Building and offers 30-minute or 60-minute writing consultations for students. Consultations are available in person, on Zoom or even asynchronously — meaning a student can submit a document and a consultant will respond with comments.
Melissa Keith, the current director for the Writing Center, said that all types of texts are viable to be brought into the Writing Center. Everything from essays, PowerPoints, presentations and scripts are viable to receive feedback and revisions.
Keith emphasized that most of the consultation staff are undergraduate students, and consultations between students and consultants are very conversational.
“It is peer to peer, like when you sit down with someone or get written feedback from someone, it’s really like a fellow student, just one that’s been trained to provide writing feedback, but a fellow student that you’re having a conversation with which is really nice,” Keith said.
Students are encouraged to book these consultations online but are always welcome to stop by in person to see if a consultant is available.
Keith shared that writing consultants vary in educational disciplines, and students studying all majors are encouraged to utilize the Writing Center to improve their written communication.

Claire Keener | The Arbiter
“We actually recruit people who come from different majors so we can have that diversity of thought among the staff,” Keith said. “We really believe that writing is important across majors, and it’s a skill that different disciplines and employers all value.”
Julia DuBois, a current senior majoring in communication, works at the Writing Center as a consultant. She shared that during her training she studied various theories of writing and different ways to work with writing to make it effective.
DuBois said that although consultants are helping with beneficial revisions to the project at hand, utilizing the Writing Center can help improve students’ writing skills overall.
“We focus more on helping you specifically as a writer improve your writing,” DuBois said. “So it’s not just about one specific paper. It’s about a bigger picture of how in the future [we could] use this paper to teach you about being a better writer moving forward.”
DuBois emphasized that all students, regardless of discipline, can receive help from consultants as written communication applies to every field.
“Adding in new perspectives I think goes a really long way,” DuBois said. “In every major, in every field of work you’re going to write something, you need to communicate a message effectively, and so it’s important for all of us to learn skills of how to be well written in general, so I think every field will be looking for that, so everyone can improve.”
Students can also use Writing Center consultations to work on personal or professional writing outside of school, such as applications or resumes.
“I really think everyone needs a reader, and that’s really what we’re providing,” Keith said. “No matter what someone’s relationship with writing [is like] or how they feel like they struggle with it or not, everyone can still benefit from having an active engaged audience, engaged with their writing.”