With only two weeks before finals, students may want to consider starting on papers now and getting help from the Center for Academic Program Support.
CAPS is being used by more students as final exams and paper deadlines near, said Alicia Lacovara, a senior intern in the program.
The center, on the top floor of Zimmerman Library, offers free tutoring programs to UNM students.
Evan Ashworth, a graduate student and writing tutor for CAPS, said he helps students by giving them direction on how to write a good paper, rather than just editing papers and fixing problems on the spot.
"I think that every case is different, and they all depend on the individual writing assignment, but we provide strategies for how to write better," he said. "What we don't do at CAPS is proofread."
Ashworth said CAPS sets out to help students learn how to construct ideas and thesis statements because those skills will help them in the long-term.
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Lacovara said the support center is increasing its efforts to help students with final papers.
"We are offering a lot of new programs that I am really excited about," she said. "The closer that we get toward finals, it seems the more we see students who want some last-minute help on papers or assignments."
Sophomore Amanda Caster said final exams are more stressful than papers but that students still need to take time to perfect essays that can be worth a large portion of their final grades.
"Writing a paper is less difficult because you have a good amount of time to work on perfecting it," she said.
CAPS offers students access to writing workshops and one-on-one meetings, said Mary Cianflone, CAPS program coordinator.
"All of our tutors go through a rigorous interview period and then an even more rigorous training period," she said. "Our writing tutors are very unique.... They are a mix of graduate and undergraduate students who major in a lot of different areas of writing, from technical writing to traditional writing, even some history writers."
Cianflone said the CAPS tutors are some of the best available, as some are Ph.D. candidates in linguistics.
"Writing tutors are typically from very broad backgrounds," she said. "I look for people who can talk to freshmen, even if they are Ph.D. candidates, and really help students with their problems."
