Accessibility in the CAS Writing Center
The CAS Writing Center is committed to supporting all students, including disabled and neurodivergent students with a range of accessibility needs. Students are welcome to reach out to the Writing Center administrative team at writing@bu.edu with any questions about using the Writing Center.
Our space
The CAS Writing Center is an open space on the third floor of 100 Bay State Road (the Yawkey Center for Student Services). Our space is accessible by two elevators that can be accessed via the main entrance to the building on Deerfield Street. There is also a staircase near the elevators that provides access to our floor. You can view a short video about how to get to the Writing Center from the outside of our building here.
The furniture in the Writing Center includes flexible seating in the form of tables with detached chairs that consultants and students can position as they choose to work together. One wall of the space includes large windows that let in natural light, and the space also includes overhead fluorescent lighting.
There are multi-stall single-gender restrooms down the hall from the Writing Center, as well as a water bottle filling station. You can find a list of the closest gender-neutral restrooms on campus here.
Masks are available for students to use during appointments, if they would like. We ask all students who use the Writing Center to be respectful of one another’s choices around masking. We also ask you not to attend an in-person appointment if you are sick! This includes both acute illness and flare-ups of chronic physical and/or mental health issues. We want you to take care of yourself, and we want our consultants to stay healthy too! If you need to cancel an appointment due to last-minute illness, please do so using our online scheduling system and email writing@bu.edu, and you will not be penalized.
There tend to be between two and five appointments happening in the Writing Center at any given time. The Writing Center is also on a floor that includes faculty and staff offices, a classroom, and open study space. Because the space can sometimes be noisy, students are welcome to ask their consultant if they would prefer working in a quieter or more private space — there are a few other spots on our floor where appointments can be moved.
Appointment options
The CAS Writing Center offers both in-person and remote appointments. For both types of appointments, you can indicate if there are any accommodations that might help you during your appointment that you would like your tutor to know about when you book an appointment in our our online scheduling system.
If you prefer a remote appointment, you can sign up for an appointment with a tutor who has “remote” listed next to their name on a given day in our online schedule. Students can participate in a remote appointment from any quiet location they choose. Remote appointments take place through WCOnline, our online scheduling platform, and have a similar format to a Zoom call, with options for video and text chat as well as a space to share your writing and work on it with the consultant.
Examples of accommodations in the Writing Center
Sometimes it can be hard to know what else you can ask for as an accommodation! Our consultants have worked together to brainstorm some options for things that they can do that may help you during an appointment. During most appointments, you can expect that the consultant will:
- Offer a flexible seating arrangement so that you can both work together comfortably
- Check in with you at a few different points to ensure that you understand things
- Incorporate different strategies tailored to different learning styles (ex. drawing diagrams, writing out a step-by-step process, explaining something out loud)
- Establish goals for the appointment that focus on what you want to accomplish
- Provide positive reinforcement about what you’re already doing well, along with constructive feedback about how you might improve
If one or more of these things is especially helpful to you, please don’t be afraid to tell the consultant that so that they know how best to support you.
You can also ask for other things that you need during an appointment. Here are some examples (although this is not an exhaustive list):
- Ask for a short break or movement activity (ex. stretching, taking a walk around the floor, using a fidget toy)
- Ask the consultant to rephrase something that you did not understand, or to explain something a different way
- Ask the consultant to wear a mask
- Ask to move the appointment to a quieter space (subject to availability, we can move appointments to a private office or quieter part of our open floor)
Additional resources for students
- The Office of Disability and Access Services offers a number of resources for students. See in particular their guidelines for requesting accommodations and transitioning to college.