Academic Resources for Graduate Students

Marian University offers personalized one-on-one Writing, Research, and Educational Technology consultations as a free resource through the Academic Commons to graduate students from all programs. Our mission is to provide you with resources and tools to support your academic success.

Please reach out to our team at academiccommons@marian.edu if you have any questions or concerns and we will get back to you during business hours.

Graduate Consultations

Graduate Consultations are available by appointment through WCOnline. Once you log in with your university credentials, select the Graduate Writing, Research, and Technology Support schedule in the upper left hand corner. You can refine your search by using the drop-down boxes. Appointments must be made at least 12 hours in advance. Consultations are offered in 1 hour time slots, and available in face-to-face, online, or asynchronous formats:

• Online appointments are accessed at your scheduled time using the link provided in your confirmation email. You can also log back into WCOnline approximately 5-10 minutes before your appointment, open your appointment, and click "Start or Join Online Consultation.”
• Face-to-face appointments are held at the Indianapolis campus on the first floor of Mother Theresa Hackelmeier Memorial Library.
•  Asynchronous appointments are an option for students who cannot meet during available hours. You will receive 1 hour of dedicated time from a Writing Consultant to review your work, as well as an email response with comments and feedback after your appointment time.

Writing Consultations

Ready to elevate your writing skills? Professional graduate-level writing consultants are here to assist students from all MU graduate programs, both on-campus and online, with a wide range of writing projects. Whether it's academic papers, literature reviews, journal articles, presentations, scholarship applications, personal statements, theses, dissertations, capstones, or any other writing task, our consultants are ready to help.

These consultations offer personalized feedback and suggestions at any stage of the writing process. Our team can assist you with:

•  Effective writing and research practices.
•  Personalized feedback and suggestions.
•  Resources and tools for writing and research.
•  Time management and goal setting strategies.
•  Developing effective research questions.
•  Analysis and interpretation of research findings.
•  Developing a strong thesis statement.
•  Refining language to meet academic standards.
•  ELL / Multilingual writing and overcoming language barriers.

No Editing / Proofreading Policy:

Our Writing Consultants do not provide page by page copy editing services and will not line edit or proofread documents for students. Proofreading typically includes correcting typos, spelling errors, or incorrect words (for example, typing “the” instead of “then”). With sentence-level work, a Writing Consultant’s goal will be to help you, the writer, identify errors and correct them on your own. 

Research Consultations

Our dedicated librarians are here to support students with every step of the research process. Whether you're embarking on new projects, diving into literature reviews, or navigating complex databases, we've got you covered. Services includes:

• Research Topic Development
• Literature Review Assistance
• Database Navigation
• Source Evaluation
• Interlibrary Loan Services
• Copyright and Fair Use
• Research Workshops and Training

Educational Technology Consultations

Supercharge your graduate studies with educational technology! Our expert consultants are here to offer personalized or group consultations on a range of tech-related topics that will help make your academic journey more effective and engaging. These topics include:

General Educational Technology - Resources Supported

• Resources for AI in Education
• Canvas assistance and troubleshooting
• Creating video tutorials via ScreenPal: recording anything you have up on your screen or presentations via PowerPoint.
• YuJa software focusing on lecture or video capture, cloud hosting, and video integration within Canvas.

Scholarly Publishing Resources

• Large-format Printing – for poster presentations and other scholarly or research projects.
• MUShare - our institutional repository for archiving and showcasing scholarly works produced on campus. 
• Scholarly Publication Platforms – via the library’s PALNI Consortium, access to different publishing methods with PALNI Press:
  • Scholarly repositories – (MUSHare)
  • Student / Faculty journal hosting via Open Journal Systems (OJS)
  • Open Monographs and texts using the Pressbooks platform
  • Digital Exhibits using the Omeka platform

ELL/Multilingual Writing Support

The Academic Commons team includes professional tutors who provide support to English Language Learners and Multilingual students. In addition to writing, this support includes reading, understanding assignments, giving speeches or oral presentations, learning grammar, pronunciation, etc. Both face-to-face and online tutoring appointments are available through WCOnline and should be scheduled at least 12 hours in advance. 

Video Tutorial: How to Schedule Appointments with ELL/Multilingual Writing Tutors