About
Howe Center for Writing Excellence
The Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE) was founded in 1996 with the generous support of Roger and Joyce Howe ('57). Our mission is to help Miami students develop as effective writers in college and prepare them to excel as clear, concise, and persuasive writers wherever life takes them. We pursue this mission through two main initiatives. Howe Writing Across the Curriculum (HWAC) carries out research-based development programs for faculty and graduate students who teach writing in their disciplines. The Howe Writing Center (HWC) supports all Miami writers—students and faculty—with any writing they are doing and at any point in their process. Programming is run by expertly trained undergraduate and graduate student writing consultants, along with the HWC director, staff, and Graduate Assistant Directors.
The HCWE is directed by Dr. Elizabeth Wardle. Our staff includes Dr. Mandy Olejnik (Assistant Director, HWAC), Dr. Lizzie Hutton (Director, HWC), Kate Francis (Manager, HWC), Loretta Parker (Administrative Assistant, HCWE), Gail Stout (Budget and Data Coordinator, HCWE), and a small team of Graduate Assistant Directors.
 |
 |
Student-Focused |
Teacher-Focused |
| Whatever type of assignment you’re working on, we'll help you practice, revise, and reflect on your writing. Start taking advantage of all the Howe Writing Center (HWC) has to offer today! Make an appointment. | We help faculty and graduate teaching assistants from all disciplines draw on their own expertise to accomplish their personal writing goals and teach their students how to write in their major. Learn more. |
One-to-One |
Disciplinary |
|
HWC Consultants are eager to meet with you. Consultants come from a variety of academic backgrounds and are trained to ensure you get the help you need. Meet our team of consultants. |
We understand that writing is different in every discipline, so we work collaboratively with faculty to forge best practices in writing across academic fields. Discover our Disciplinary Writing Guides. |
Driven by Research |
Driven by Research |
| We're committed to supporting writing in a way that's based on the latest research. Read more. | To teach writing effectively, we turn to methods that are supported by the latest research. Learn more about our empirically driven approach. |
Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure that Miami supports its students in developing as effective writers in college, fully preparing graduates to excel as clear, concise, and persuasive writers in their careers, communities, and personal lives. To do this, the HCWE strives to:
- Provide the most innovative, research-based writing instruction in the country
- Measurably impact writing-related research, practice, and policy at Miami, in Ohio, in the region, and in the nation.
Our Principles
We follow these research-supported principles of writing and rhetoric:
About Writing
Writing mediates activity and helps us get things done through recognizable and recurring forms.
Writing is social and rhetorical; writers benefit from talking and sharing drafts from other writers.
Writing is not natural; rather, it is something we all work to learn. Being a competent writer is something that can be developed across time and with practice.
Writing is informed by prior experience, including experience with writing, reading, and cultural experiences and norms.
Writing is embodied cognition; it is emotional as well as cognitive and social. How writers feel about writing impacts what they are able to accomplish as writers.
Writing enacts values, conventions, and identities, including those of disciplines and professions.
About Writers
All writers have more to learn and can benefit from practice, feedback, and revision.
All writers benefit from monitoring their own learning, progress, and struggles. Thus, receiving formative assessment and then reflecting and self-assessing are important parts of improving as a writer.
All writers and readers are constantly negotiating language differences. Both writers and readers are always writing to construct meaning.
About Learning
New and unfamiliar writing tasks can impact a writer's performance in areas where they are usually highly competent. This is a normal part of learning.
Reflection and metacognition are important parts of improving as a writer.
Helping learners improve as writers is a shared responsibility since a great deal of writing is enacted in specialized disciplines and professions. Experts who use writing in specialized ways are best positioned to help enculturate learners into that type of writing.
About AI
Education should develop creative and critical thinkers and problem-solvers.
Writing is central to creative thinkers’ problem-solving processes.
Good writers use writing to learn and think, drawing intentionally on writing tools.
AI is one of many tools available to writers, but cannot replace creative and critical thinking.
Howe Center for Writing Excellence
The mission of the HCWE is to ensure that Miami supports its students in developing as effective writers in college, and fully prepares all of its graduates to excel as clear, concise, and persuasive writers in their careers, communities, and personal lives.
Contact Us
151 S. Campus Ave
King Library
Oxford, OH 45056
hcwe@MiamiOH.edu
513-529-6100
2022 Writing Program Certificate of Excellence
2022 Exemplary Enduring WAC Program
