Academic Writing Skills


Essay writing feedback sessions for GLA students are free and available in the following two formats.

GLA Writing Coach

Catering to students seeking for advice focusing on elements and sentence structure within a paragraph

  • Open 4 days/week (As a pilot program, the coaching is offered in a limited time frame. Additional slots may be opened up in the future depending on the demand from students.) 
  • Book an online one-on-one session at least three working days in advance and submit your essay draft (in Word format) at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment so that the writing coach can work through your draft before the session. Right after the reservation, you will get a confirmation e-mail with a URL link to upload your draft file.
  • You can reserve two one-hour slots in one semester. In the event of no-show, you cannot book any more session during the semester.
  • If you have any inquiries, please contact  GLA Writing Coach @ Writing Coach Inquiry Form

The coaching provided by GLA focuses on your writing structure and style including logical flow between sentences.

Key points to be checked by a writing coach include whether:

  • all the key paragraph elements are properly included
  • key elements in a paragraph provides an easy-to-follow structure for expressing your ideas clearly and effectively
  • sentences are arranged in logical order
  • paraphrasing and summary are effectively used
  • sources are cited appropriately

Writing Tutorial Program provided by RU College of International Relations:

Catering to students seeking for advice on the entire essay structure

  • Open online during lunch time and the 5th period, on Wednesdays and Fridays from mid-May to July in Spring Semester and from November to January in Fall Semester.
  • Book a one-on-one tutoring session at least three business days in advance. You can book as many sessions as you want.

You can consult with graduate and senior undergraduate students of the College of International Relations for any concerns in writing assignments, including topic generation, sequence and flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph. Bring your draft with you for the session, and share the draft with the tutor via Zoom chat function.

Writing tutors can:

  • work together to organize what you want to discuss in the paper
  • help you find which parts you need to revise in your papers
  • give advice/hints for you to get some ideas on rewriting your papers
  • explain plagiarism issues and help you understand the rules
  • answer your questions regarding academic writing

GLA Writing Coach and RU Writing Tutorial Program want to ensure you and your peers have a great experience with us. That is why we have a few rules and expectations.
We DO NOT:

  • see an assessment piece that is due on the day of the appointment
  • edit, proofread or grammar check
  • advise on the disciplinary content of your work
  • translate references or other content
  • advise users how you can get a better grade (We are not responsible for users’ grades)
  • conduct coaching/tutoring personally other than the tutorial session
  • conduct coaching/tutoring for more than one hour per booking


<Cancellation policy>
If you fail to attend an appointment without any prior notice, you will not be able to make another appointment that semester.