Accessibility

Navigation

The Hixon Writing Center is on the third floor of the Center for Student Services, at the north end of the building. You can reach the HWC by stairs or by elevator. There are restrooms near the stairs and elevators with an accessible stall. There is a ramp at the entrance of the HWC suite. The central hall inside the suite is wide and easy to navigate. There are chairs and bookcases along the walls of the hallway inside the suite, but they do not obstruct movement.

Physical

The Hixon Writing Center shares space with the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach. When you enter the suite, you will pass by several offices for HWC and CTLO staff. On your right you will pass by an open area with lots of tables and chairs. There may be meetings or workshops happening here.

Writing specialists and peer tutors each have a private office for meetings. These offices are near the end of the suite. You will see a green wall with the words Hixon Writing Center near these offices. There are chairs in the hallway where you can sit and wait for your appointment.

Each writing specialist's office has a small round table where you and the writing specialist can sit and work together. The chairs have wheels and have no armrests or height adjustment.

There are also three additional rooms at the end of the suite:

• Collaborative Workspace: This room has a large table with several wheeled desk chairs. There is a large white board on one wall. There is also a printer in one corner.
• Presentation Practice Room: This room has a podium, a TV screen, and a camera for practicing and recording presentations.
• Peer Tutor Writing Room: This room has a medium-sized table with four chairs and a small whiteboard on the wall. This room is used for meetings hosted by peer tutors.

Sensory

The lighting in the Hixon Writing Center is fluorescent. The offices have large windows that let in lots of natural light depending on the time of day. Each specialist has decorated their office differently. Each office has a door that can be kept open or closed to reduce noise.

As you walk through the HWC you may hear noise from meetings, workshops, or conversations that are happening in the suite, or see people working in office spaces or workshop areas.

What Happens During a Visit to a Writing Specialist or peer tutor?

When you arrive at the Hixon Writing Center, the specialist or peer tutor will meet you in the waiting area in the hall at the time of your appointment. They will invite you into their office, let you get settled, and ask you a few questions to get to know you and work with you to identify goals for your session. Every session is different, depending on your interests and writing projects. Some of the activities you might do during your session include reading your writing out loud, studying example documents, reviewing resources or handouts, analyzing your writing, or simply conversing with the writing specialist or peer tutor about your project.

Remember that the writing specialists and peer tutors are here for you, so if anything they say or do is unclear or doesn't work well for you, let them know so they can work with you on your writing in a different way. At the end of your session, they may ask if you have any last questions and help you identify the next steps to make progress with your writing.

Accommodations

We want you to be comfortable during your visits to the Hixon Writing Center! There is usually enough natural light from the windows that we can turn off the fluorescent lighting in the offices. Our appointments are also available both in person and on Zoom. If you need to switch between modalities or are having trouble connecting for your appointment, send an email to the person you are meeting with to let them know.

We actively find and discuss resources to support the needs of students visiting the writing center. These include (and are not limited to): fidget toys, color overlay sheets for dyslexia, text-to-speech software, and useful tools or apps for supporting the writing process. If there is anything that would make your visit to the HWC more comfortable and productive, feel free to note it when you make an appointment through WCOnline or tell us during your meeting. We'll do our best to help!

We want the HWC to be an accessible and welcoming place for the entire Caltech community, so please inform us of any accessibility concerns or suggestions by emailing writing@caltech.edu.