Online Writing Lab (OWL)
What is the OWL?
The Success Center Online Writing Lab provides access to writing tutors for currently enrolled Southwestern Illinois College students. The OWL offers a convenient alternative to face-to-face writing tutoring. Students can submit their paper for review or ask questions about their writing assignment.
If you have questions or do not receive a response, please email us at successcenters@swic.edu.
How to drop off your paper
1. Log into your eSTORM Student Center.
2. Click the Quick Links box from the Student Center Homepage and access the Success Center OWL from the left-side navigation bar.
3. Click the “Submit a Writing Assignment Tab.”
4. Enter the information asked for. Please be as specific as you can with questions and assignment details. Students may copy and paste the instructions from Brightspace.
How It Works
– Tutors offer students feedback based on their questions and assignment details.
– Comments are posted in papers and available for students to print.
– Responses are returned to students via eSTORM, usually within two school days.
– Tutors do not respond to papers on weekends or during college breaks.
General Guidelines
– Papers must be five pages or less (based on a standard double-spaced format).
– Longer papers and complex research papers should be brought to a Success Center.
– The OWL does not retain a paper’s formatting; tutors are unable to address formatting questions.
– Please spell-check papers before submitting them to the OWL.
– Students can submit the same paper up to three times if it is revised significantly between submissions.
– Submit work early to allow ample time for revisions.