The coordinator and tutor of the Academic Writing Center (AWC) ITS, Ms. Meilisa S.A Ariyanto, provides academic writing assistance through One-on-One Consultation sessions with participants at the Self Access Room (SAR) of GLC ITS (Source: GLC ITS Documentation)

ITS Campus, GLC News — Amid growing demands for scientific publications both nationally and internationally, academic writing skills have become an essential competency for members of the academic community. However, many students and researchers still face challenges in turning their ideas into systematic scientific works that are ready for publication. To meet this need, the Global Language Center (GLC) at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has established the Academic Writing Center (AWC) as a dedicated support center that helps students, lecturers, and staff continuously develop their academic writing skills.

Unlike the common belief that an academic writing center only plays a role in correcting grammar or proofreading texts, AWC ITS focuses on a mentoring process that helps writers critically reflect on their original ideas and understand their readers’ perspectives. In addition, AWC can help writers develop ideas, organize arguments, understand the structure of scientific articles, and recognize international publication standards. This approach is expected to help writers become more independent and confident in producing high-quality academic work that represents their original voice.

To support this process, AWC ITS offers various services, ranging from one-on-one scientific writing consultations, thematic workshops, Academic Writing classes, to open learning materials that can be accessed online as a self-learning resource. All services are supported by professional tutors experienced in academic writing and publishing.

“Academic writing skills are not just essential for completing one’s studies, but will continue to be needed in developing a professional career. AWC helps writers think more critically, argue better, organize ideas systematically, and analyze problems more deeply. This helps strengthen critical thinking skills at a time when many thinking processes are increasingly being assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI). That’s why AWC is here to guide every writer in developing ideas and conveying them effectively according to scientific writing standards while representing their own voice,” said the Coordinator and AWC Tutor at ITS, Ms. Meilisa Sindy Astika Ariyanto MPd.

Participants in the Pre-Doctoral Academic Writing class joined a group discussion led by the Coordinator and AWC ITS Tutor, Ms. Meilisa S.A Ariyanto, at GLC ITS to strengthen their skills in writing scientific papers that meet academic publishing standards (Source: GLC ITS Documentation)

Through these various forms of support, AWC ITS also encourages the academic community to develop a habit of writing consistently. One of the most popular services is One-on-One Consultation, which allows participants to discuss various types of academic work, ranging from final projects, journal articles, conference papers, competition essays, academic presentations, to scholarship essays. In each session, the tutor doesn’t act as an editor or translator, but rather provides constructive feedback to help the writer develop ideas, strengthen arguments, organize the structure of the writing, and prepare a more analytical manuscript.

Besides consultations, AWC also regularly holds Writing Bootcamps and Drop-in Workshops that cover a variety of academic writing topics, from the writing process, abstract preparation, critical thinking, publication strategies, to ethical use of AI in scientific writing. Some of these services are available free of charge to ITS academic community during working hours. Meanwhile, consultation services outside the designated hours or for the general public are available through a paid scheme.

The benefits of AWC mentoring have also been felt by various participants. One of them is Anggi Febrianto, a Doctoral student in Technology Management at ITS, who participated in the One-on-One Consultation program. “Thanks to GLC ITS for the One-on-One Consultation program that has helped guide and support the process of refining my manuscript until it was finally accepted in the Trip Publisher Elsevier Q1 Journal, with a 4th Scopus Rank. I’m proud to be part of this success,” he said.

A similar statement was made by Muh. Aqik Ardiansyah, a Master’s student in Technology Management at ITS. “The AWC Writing Bootcamp provided valuable experience in improving academic writing skills in a structured way. The material presented was very practical and broadened my understanding of effective strategies for writing internationally standardized scientific papers,” he shared.

Not only that, ITS international students also feel the benefits of this program. Cyril Bernard Rachman, a Doctoral student in Environmental Engineering at ITS and a recipient of the Kemitraan Negara Berkembang (KNB) Scholarship, shared his experience attending the One-on-One Consultation sessions. “I absolutely loved this academic writing program, especially the One-on-One Consultation sessions, which were incredibly helpful. My tutor was very supportive, and having the opportunity to discuss everything smoothly in English made the learning process much more enjoyable. This program has been extremely helpful during my fourth semester, but I wish I had known about it when I first started my doctoral studies. I highly recommend it to new postgraduate students because it provides an excellent foundation for academic writing,” he explained.

Through mentoring, workshops, and open-access learning resources, AWC ITS is committed to building a collaborative and sustainable academic writing culture. These efforts are aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Quality Education, particularly in strengthening academic literacy and providing learning opportunities that support the continuous development of academic writing skills among the academic community. (*)

Written by: Alzena Mayla Shabrina
Editor: Global Language Center, ITS