Reviews for Social Change: A Writing Center Global Days of Service Initiative

Each year, Walden University hosts Global Days of Service to encourage Walden faculty and staff members, students, and alumni to participate in service projects in their communities. During October, any person with a connection to Walden is encouraged to partner with community-oriented organizations such as Avenues for Homeless Youth, People Serving People, and other groups that have a goal of creating positive social change. Global Days of Service is the embodiment of Walden’s commitment to positive social change.

This year, we at the Walden University Writing Center want to give back to our students who give so much to their communities. To participate in Global Days of Service, the Walden University Writing Center is introducing Reviews for Social Change, an initiative to review Walden students’ writing outside of Walden that is geared toward influencing positive social change.

From October 15th to October 19th, 2018, professional staff members at the Writing Center will review writing projects that Walden students are working on outside of Walden to promote positive social change. For example, students can submit grant proposals, community resources, letters to legislators, scholarship applications, articles for publication, and even blog posts for a paper review during this time period. Any type of writing done outside of Walden that has a goal of producing positive social change can be submitted, although the Writing Center always reserves the right to cancel appointments that do not meet the criteria or follow myPASS policies.

While we’re eager to help out with writing projects that engender positive social change, the Writing Center professionals will be looking at drafts as outside readers rather than content experts. Although writing instructors may not be familiar with a specific genre, they can comment on clarity, voice, flow, style, and other aspects of writing. We want to celebrate and support you in your goals relating to positive social change!

If you’re a Walden student, you can register as a new user in myPASS if necessary and learn more about making appointments. Just remember to use the Reviews for Social Change schedule in myPASS for reviews of writing independent of Walden coursework rather than the Graduate Coursework, Undergraduate Coursework, or Preproposal Schedule. The Reviews for Social Change schedule has already opened for reservation, and appointments are available from October 15th to October 19th. 

If you’re not a Walden student, you can still participate in Global Days of Service by volunteering in your community. Even though Global Days of Service is a Walden initiative, the goal is to loop others in to widen the circle of service. The more people contribute to their communities, the larger the global effect. Have you ever heard the saying that a butterfly fluttering its wings casts a breeze across the globe? If that is the case, then joining hands in helping others creates a bond far beyond a local community. When we raise our hands to help, we lift others so that they can help as well.

Katherine McKinney is a writing instructor in the Walden University Writing Center. She received an M.A. in English from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education at Walden. Katherine's goal as an instructor is to show students that the best writing results from practice, and she aims to provide feedback and resources that will guide students through the invention, composition, and revision process.

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