The Writing and Communications Center

We are highly skilled professional and peer writing consultants from a variety of disciplines who provide free assistance to Stevens students, staff, and faculty on their written and oral communications projects. We seek to empower writers by helping them develop the communication skills essential to their success in academic coursework and beyond Stevens. Our consultants respond in ways that best meet the needs of all students.

The WCC's appointment system is divided in increments of 60 minutes. However, the actual length of an appointment is 45-50 minutes. Consultants need the extra 10-15 minutes to fill out client reports and/or prepare for their next appointment. We limit clients to 3 appointments per week. Writers working on long-term projects (dissertations, etc.) may request standing weekly appointments.

Writers are asked to bring their prompt, research question, or pertinent job listing(s) to the appointment. Consultants will benefit from knowing information such as requirements, formatting, and deadlines of the piece writers are working on.

We serve current students, faculty, and staff from any discipline. We work directly with the original authors of texts, not their proxies (team members, compilers, editors, etc.). Clients must register with WCOnline to make appointment reservations.

Writing consultants do not edit, proofread, or correct client papers; we will, however, teach writers the skills necessary to proofread, edit, and correct their own work. Consultants avoid excessive directiveness that will result in the loss of a student’s original voice, style, and content.

We ask that writers respect consultants, other writers, and the Center's space. If a writer harasses another person, exhibits violent behavior, or deliberately damages property, they will be asked to leave and never return. Consultants reserve the right to end an appointment if the client is threatening, disrespectful, nonresponsive, unprepared, or creating health risks.

If writers need to cancel appointments, we ask them to do so as far in advance as possible so that those appointments become available for others. Writers must use WCOnline (the WCC's online appointment system) to cancel their appointments.

All consultants are trained to work with all types of writing and can help elucidate ideas about a topic regardless of their own experience of that topic. Graduate students or those with extended projects may inquire about scheduling weekly appointments with professional consultants, but these are dependent on availability.

Writers should upload their paper in the form of a Word document. A consultant will review the paper and return it to the writer, with comments, via email within one business day of the appointment time. Consultants will read through the first three pages (or ~1000 words) of the paper for an E-Consultation, unless an alternative area of focus is specified by the writer in the appointment form.

Nancy Mendez-Booth 

Nancy received her BA in English from Amherst College and an MA in English Critical Theory and an MFA in Creative Writing, both from Rutgers-Newark. She enjoys helping writers grow in confidence, independence, and clarity. Nancy is a fiction writer, and teaches writing and Latina/o literature and culture at colleges and universities in New York and New Jersey. Her work has appeared in print and online, and she has read and performed at various Northeast venues. Nancy resides with her husband in New Jersey.

Shirley Meyer

Shirley received her MS in journalism from Columbia University. She spent more than a decade reporting about social policy, politics, and breaking news events for newspapers including the Des Moines Register and the Chicago Tribune and now writes essays and features as a freelancer. She loves shepherding undergraduates through the rigors and rewards of reading complex texts and crafting essays that say something new about a subject. In her downtime, she loves to knit woolens, watch live sports, and drink coffee—preferably all at the same time.

Tyler Allen Penny

Tyler Allen Penny received his BA in English from the University of Mississippi and his MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Stony Brook University. He particularly enjoys working with students on brainstorming, outlining, organization, and sentence structuring. He has taught writing workshops at colleges and libraries across Long Island for the last 8 years and is currently a writing professional at Suffolk County Community College as well. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards and his poems have been published in national journals and magazines, in print and online. He lives in Brooklyn with his cat, Lucie Brock-Broido.

Aidan Clifford 

Aidan is a 3/4 mechanical engineering student from Queens, New York. In writing and communications, he is particularly interested in argumentative and informative work, and helping students develop their interpersonal skills. On campus, he is a volunteer researcher for the Rabinovitch Research Group, studying computational fluid dynamics for the space industry. In his spare time, Aidan enjoys running, debate, and game design. This is Aidan's first year working at the WCC, and he is excited to assist fellow students with their writing and communication skills.

Sara Deuidicibus

Sara is a 3/4 mechanical engineering major from Middletown, NJ. She is also minoring in Pre-Law and Public Policy and pursuing a graduate certificate in Design and Production Management. On campus, she is a Peer Educator for the Counseling and Psychological Services, President of The Poetry Club, and contributor to the student newspaper. Sara is a certified EMT and volunteered hundreds of hours on ambulances. In her free time, she likes to write poetry, volunteer, exercise, and spend time with friends in Hoboken. since early 2019, and especially enjoys refining structure and finding the student’s voice in their paper.

Diya Jariwala

Diya is a 2/4 biomedical engineering major from Toms River, NJ. As a premed student, she is also pursuing a medical humanities minor in preparation for medical school. On campus, Diya is also the secretary of the biomedical engineering society (BMES) and is involved in other clubs such as the Indian Undergraduate Association (IUA). During her downtime, Diya enjoys dancing, exploring new areas, and hanging out with friends. This is Diya’s first year at the WCC, and she can’t wait to see you at your appointment.

Olivia Lieberman

Olivia is a 2/4 electrical engineering major at Stevens from Freehold, NJ. Olivia is a Pinnacle Scholar, the publicist for the Society of Physics students and Redshift, and an International Baccalaureate alumni. In her free time, Olivia loves to write, draw, and play guitar. This is her first semester working at the WCC, and she is very excited to help students enjoy their work and hone their creativity in every step of the writing process.

Stacy Shang

Stacy is currently a sophomore Marketing Innovation and Analytics student at Stevens and is from Rutherford, NJ. She is the Publicity Manager for Stevens A Cappella, the manager for one of the groups, Floctaves, and is a Co-Cultural Chair at the Chinese Student Association. During her downtime, she enjoys participating in other vocal and instrumental ensembles at Stevens, golfing, and working on photo, video, and audio creative projects. This year is her first year at the WCC, and she’s excited to assist students in developing their writing skills and voices.