ADVANCED AUTHOR SUPPORT PROGRAM (AASP)

The AASP is available to authors for many different kinds of projects, both academic and creative. We work with graduate students, faculty, or staff who are writing their theses/dissertations or manuscripts, transforming a piece of writing into something else (such as a conference paper, an article, or a book chapter), developing a substantial presentation (such as an academic presentation or a dissertation defense), or honing academic speaking skills. We also work with creative authors developing works larger in scope, such as novels, collections of poetry, memoirs, or other projects. If you are working on any of these types of projects, we are happy to offer our support. If you would like to work with us, please just complete and send us the AASP Interest Form, linked above. If you are working on another type of project, and you would like to know if it would be a good fit with AASP, please contact our AASP coordinator at aasp@uncg.edu. 

We work with faculty members, staff, and graduate students who are engaged in long-term projects, or in projects larger in scope than can be effectively handled in single Comm Lab sessions. AASP authors work in a variety of fields and departments—education, business, health, science, the arts, the humanities, and more—and they bring a range of projects to the table, both academic and creative. 

AASP consultants are graduate students from various fields and departments around campus. While each consultant is not an expert in every field, every AASP consultant is an educated, experienced, and thoughtful reader who has been trained in Comm Lab work, who is familiar with the conventions of academic writing and of creative writing, and who can offer some effective strategies for each stage of the writing or speaking process, from invention to revision, from outlining to expanding, from working through early drafts to polishing final ones. 

Each consulting session is booked for 45 minutes, and so you will have that full time to sit down with the consultant to discuss your ideas, concerns, and questions about your project. At your first AASP session, you and the consultant will discuss your project and your goals, and you will map out a rough plan for how to complete your project and meet those goals. 

Depending on where you are in the authoring process, each subsequent session will be shaped differently. Initially, you might brainstorm or make a research plan with your consultant, review your sources and chapter outlines, or discuss the themes of your work as a whole. In subsequent sessions, you may bring in a printed copy of the section of your project you’re working on (keep in mind that five pages is usually the maximum amount of writing we can effectively work with in a session) or deliver a portion of a speech. If you are working on writing, you or the consultant will read the writing out loud and discuss whatever concerns or questions you have about that piece. This is often one of the most valuable pieces of the session; as a writer, you can see more clearly the effect of your writing on a live reader, and the consultant can offer immediate feedback on the clarity, organization, and development of the writing. If you are working on a speaking project, you may give your speech, discuss your visual aid, or practice answering conference-style questions.

At the final AASP session of the semester, you and the consultant will review your initial plan, see your progress, and perhaps draft a new plan for tackling your next project (or a continuation of your current project) next semester. 

In order to get started, please email our coordinator (aasp@uncg.edu) or fill out this form. We’ll be in touch with you shortly to determine which day and time works best for you, and we’ll match you with an AASP consultant. 

Please keep in mind that the AASP is part of the University Communication Lab; for that reason, AASP consultants are only available when the Comm Lab is open. The consultants’ schedules change each semester and summer session, and so we’ll need to set up your meeting day and time again with each new academic session. 

The Purdue OWL offers good resources and tips for advanced writers, especially for specific types of writing like conference papers, dissertation abstracts, or book proposals. 

The Get a Life, PhD blog by Sociology and American Studies Professor Dr. Golash-Boza, from the University of Kansas, offers strategies for completing writing projects and making writing part of a routine. 

Wendy Belcher’s book, Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, has received great reviews from graduate students.