UMass Boston

The University of Massachusetts Boston Writing Center serves the university community by supporting undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff and by creating an equitable, socially, racially, and linguistically just culture of writing throughout campus and in the community. In doing so, we contribute to UMB’s mission of inclusive excellence in teaching, research, and service, and support the goal of being a leading anti-racist health-promoting institution. As part of an urban research university, we seek to center the needs of first-generation writers, writers of color, writers with disabilities, and multilingual, and international writers, knowing that their cultural and linguistic knowledges haven’t always been valued. We believe that the diversity of their backgrounds, ways of being, and lived experiences should be at the core of the knowledge creation that happens on campus. Our writing center aims to provide accessible and adaptive services – such as individual tutoring, workshops, and consultations with faculty. 

The UMB Writing Center believes that every writer benefits from supportive and generous interaction with a knowledgeable peer, both online and in-person, on their writing. As such, we work with writers on all writing projects – whether personal, academic, or professional – at any stage. During writing sessions, our well-trained undergraduate and graduate consultants collaborate with writers on their goals and take into account academic and social contexts. 

The UMB Writing Center also exists as a space for faculty and staff across campus to have conversations about the teaching of writing. We consult, collaborate, and offer programming for faculty to support writing instruction that is guided by writing studies research and just practices.   

Professional development, research, and assessment are also central to our mission; therefore, we maintain a rigorous professional development program for our staff, offer a course on tutoring, and engage with the broader writing center community by conducting research and participating in conferences. The administrative team conducts research and publishes scholarship in the fields of writing studies and writing centers and assesses writing center practices and programming.  

Our long-term vision includes a commitment to serving the needs of writers in the surrounding community, including students and teachers in Boston’s K-12 schools and organizations. As such, we seek to foster mutually beneficial partnerships between the UMB Writing Center and other organizations. Ultimately, we envision a transformational and more just culture of writing across campus and the broader community.

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