Graduate Students
The Center for Excellence in Writing has proven to be a powerful resource for graduate students.
We provide individualized support for writers in four formats:
In–person: The heart of our services, come to 17 Norton and sit with one of our PhD consultants and talk about your writing.
Virtual: If coming to the center is inconvenient, you can schedule a Zoom appointment throughout the week, evenings and even Sundays!
Advanced read and meet: If you have a lengthy document you would like the consultant to review before your appointment, you can book the consultant for one hour of reading and then for an interactive appointment in which you can discuss your consultant's feedback and talk out revision plans. Talk with your consultant or email writing@buffalo.edu to set up this service.
Written feedback: If you are unable to meet with a consultant, either in person or virtually, we can provide asynchronous feedback on your draft. Please read the instructions carefully before accessing this service.
You are welcome to make up to three appointments per week!
Writing Consultations
Feel free to come in with specific questions, for a brainstorming session, or to request feedback on a specific aspect of your work. While we may not have a consultant in your discipline, sometimes a thoughtful outside reader can provide you with a valuable perspective about the clarity of your work. There are times when just talking it out with a peer can help you unknot the inevitable tangles in your project.
We can help you with a wide variety of writing projects including:
Even though I had a rather difficult and exclusive topic, he took the time to understand necessary concepts in order to approach the essay."
The CEW helped me a lot in both my dissertation and drafts of my journal papers."
- Course papers
- Dissertations
- Theses
- Proposals
- Job application materials
- Conference Presentations
- Group Projects
- Journal articles
Dissertation Support Programs
For graduate students working on dissertations and other large projects, the CEW hosts programs to provide space, accountability, and community to help you make consistent forward progress toward your goals. Programs include:
Writing Retreats – 4 to 5 days of intensive work on your project, framed by discussion, goal setting and experience sharing. Participants report making surges of progress, breaking through obstacles, and finding newfound momentum in their writing projects. In person or Zoom formats available. Typically offered during spring, summer, and winter breaks.
Writing Groups - Keep writing momentum going by joining a weekly writing group. We form writing groups, promote existing writing groups, and can help you to connect with others who are interested in joining a writing group. In Fall 2025 we are hostingna writing, accountablity and discussion group for ADHD identifying students! Email writing@buffalo.edu if you have any interest in writing groups! Learn more about current UB writing groups here.
I like the retreat for hearing the collective struggles and successes of the group. It makes me feel part of a community of writers.
I would participate in this every day until my dissertation was complete, if it was available.
to receive occasional emails about our various graduate writing and dissertation support programs and events.
Enter the listserv name "CEW-GRAD-WRITING-SUPPORT-LIST" in the box, then enter your UB email. If you are unsure whether or not you are already subscribed, email us at writing@buffalo.edu or check out the . You can also unsubscribe using the same subscription link above.
New service: Oral Communication Lab
You can now schedule individual and group appointments to practice and gain feedback in interviewing, presenting, English conversation and networking. These appointments are held on Fridays in 128 Capen and can be scheduled via Navigate. In addition, there will be various guest presentations and workshops.
New program: GenAI Sandboxes
We all have heard how much GenAI is poised to change the landscape of writing and communication and knowing how to use it with skill and discernment might be important to your future career. And yet, there is also a lot of concern about academic integrity and the risks of GenAI use in writing and research. Sandboxes are a safe space to explore GenAI tools. We will try different tools and engage in various guided experiments with plenty of dialogue. Bring your expertise - this is a time for co-learning! Location and session dates/times to be announced! Email writing@buffalo.edu to express interest or ask questions.
Using the GSA editing service in conjunction with CEW consultations
Since CEW consultants are not copy-editors and our work with writers is interactive, we encourage you to use a combination of CEW consulting services and the Graduate Student Association's free copy-editing services.
The GSA can be used for straightforward copy-editing work that can be done outside of your presence. Working with a CEW consultant is best for planning revisions and making editorial changes that need to be discussed to make sure your meaning is preserved. The CEW may also help you with stylistic revisions to make your work easier and more pleasing for your audience to read.
If you need both levels of work, it is a great idea to use both GSA and CEW services. For example, you could get copy-editing out of the way before you meet with a CEW consultant. Or you could work with a CEW consultant first on revisions related to meaning and then send your draft out for copy-editing. CEW consultants can also help you to respond to revision suggestions made by the GSA copy-editor.
You can submit up to 50 pages at a time to the GSA. For full dissertations, students should plan to submit chapters individually and several months in advance of the deadline. Turnaround time for documents submitted to the GSA is roughly two weeks. The GSA also has a Live Chat feature in which you can speak to an editor for a quick copy-edit of a short document (300 words or less), or questions related to grammar and formatting.
Here is the link to access GSA copy-editing services:
Write Through: Dissertation Inspiration!
Write Through: Dissertation Inspiration is an article series which tells the stories of all the unique ways UB alums have made their way through the dissertation journey - and in a timely fashion as well! Strategies abound!
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions about our Graduate level writing and consultations services. If you can't find an answer to your question here, please reach out to us at writing@buffalo.edu.
We employ MA and PhD level consultants from a variety of disciplines. Our graduate consultants are successful writers in their disciplines and also may have coursework in composition pedagogy and/or experience teaching writing.
Please note: We employ both undergraduate and graduate level consultants. If you are a graduate student, be sure to select a consultant at the appropriate level (designated as M.A. or PhD.)
We may, but we may not. Because of their experience with writing instruction and focus on language, many of our consultants are from English. We are always looking to diversify our consultant pool, but it is impossible to represent every discipline. You should not expect that your consultant be an expert in your content area. Our consultants are, however, very good at helping you gain perspective on the writing process, evaluating and discussing the rhetorical elements of texts, providing thoughtful and sensitive readings of your work, as well as helping with stylistic and grammatical elements of texts. Sometimes it is not an expert that you need, just a thoughtful reader with whom to “talk it out.”
While we can look at an electronic version with you on your laptop, many consultants prefer working with a hard copy that can be easily viewed and that you can mark up during the session. So, if you can, bring a hard copy along with any specific questions or areas of concern. You will direct the agenda of the session.
Our sessions are generally around 45 minutes long, so there is only so much that can be covered in that time. If your paper is very long, decide which portion or portions you want to focus upon. You can schedule follow-up appointments as needed.
The CEW is a great place for international students because working one-to-one with a native speaker who understands the process of language acquisition is perhaps the most efficient way to grow as a writer. We also have multilingual, international writing consultants who understand your experience and the language learning journey. Improving proficiency in written English is a long process, so many international students choose to schedule regular, ongoing appointments. As an added benefit, working one-to-one with a native speaking peer gives you excellent conversational practice as well!
The CEW is not an editing service. The GSA has an editing service that is paid through your student fees. If that service does not meet you needs, you may want to consider hiring an editor for the final stages of your wriitng process. The CEW provides collaborative, one-to-one attention to your writing, for example when editorial changes might affect meaning that requires discussion. Sometimes a combination of consultations and a traditional editing service might be a good solution. The CEW does try to maintain a list of graduate students or recent PhD graduates who offer editing services on a freelance basis.