Center for Speaking, Writing, and the Image FAQs

To book an appointment:

1. Visit our scheduler
2. Register for an account with your Pomona or 5C email address
3. Log in with the email address and password you created
   • Be sure to select the box “CSWIM Fall 2026” before you click “log in”
4. Browse available appointments. Available appointments appear as white boxes. When you click on a white box, you can also read the CSWIM Partner's short bio to learn more about them. 
5. Book an appointment!

The CSWIM offers students the opportunity to work on their writing, speaking, and multimodal composition by engaging in discussions with a thoughtful and experienced reader and listener. The CSWIM Partners who staff the CSWIM are Pomona sophomores, juniors, and seniors majoring in subjects as varied as English, politics, environmental analysis, and physics. Partners are trained to work with students at all stages of the composing process and on assignments in any discipline.

All Pomona students as well as 5C students taking Pomona classes are encouraged to visit the CSWIM. 

When you make an appointment at the CSWIM, you will get a confirmation email, as well as reminder emails 24 hours and 2 hours in advance of your appointment. If you fail to cancel your appointment at least an hour before your appointment begins twice during the semester, you will need to contact the CSWIM to regain access to appointments.

Online appointments are available only by special permission and on rare occasions from Dr. Alana Felton, the Assistant Director of College Writing, for students studying aboard or away from campus for extracurricular activities such as athletics and performances. To inquire into permission for scheduling online appointments, please email Dr. Felton at alana.felton@pomona.edu.

You shouldn't expect your CSWIM Partner to be familiar with your class, course readings, or professor. All CSWIM Partners have been trained to work with students at all stages of the writing process and across disciplines, even if they don't know the specifics of your class. In fact, in many cases, it may be better that your Partner isn't familiar with your course, since that can help them evaluate your work more objectively. To learn more about a CSWIM Partner before scheduling an appointment with them, you can read CSWIM Partner bios on WCOnline.

If you would like to work with the same CSWIM Partner throughout the course of the semester, you can email the CSWIM to request a Regular CSWIM Partner. Your Regular CSWIM Partner will meet with you weekly or bimonthly at the same time. 

The CSWIM and its Partners care deeply about academic integrity and about helping their peers develop their own voice. Please bring AI-mediated projects to the CSWIM only if AI use is permitted by the professor of the course. For more information about the CSWIM's stance on generative AI, please read the CSWIM AI Statement below.

CSWIM AI Statement

The mission of the Center for Speaking, Writing, and the Image (CSWIM) is to provide an inclusive, collaborative, and nonevaluative space for students to develop their writing and thinking processes and practices in community. We value the thoughtful, slow, and, often, inefficient nature of the writing process — from outlining and brainstorming, to drafting and revising. Our aim is to partner with students as they develop their own thinking practices and processes. The CSWIM is, at its core, a relational space: it is built on the reciprocal, human exchange that defines peer-to-peer learning and that no AI tool can replicate or replace.

While we believe that using AI uncritically and without proper guidelines and restrictions may hinder a person’s ability to develop their own written voice and critical thinking abilities, we also affirm students’ right to determine their own writing processes. The guidelines below reflect our commitment to supporting students as critical thinkers while honoring the trust that makes the CSWIM an important space on campus.

• CSWIM Partners are not responsible for reporting student AI use or for enforcing professors’ AI policies.
• While disclosing AI use can lead to more productive consultations, CSWIM Partners are not required to ask about AI use during consultations.
• Students are encouraged to bring their professor’s AI policy to CSWIM consultations to discuss how and when AI use might be ethical and appropriate for an assignment.
• Should a student decide to disclose their use of AI, a CSWIM Partner might engage in a discussion about ethical AI use during the consultation.
• The CSWIM is a space of collaboration and trust. CSWIM Partners are neither AI-checkers, nor AI-humanizers and should not be asked to act as either.
• CSWIM Partners are happy to discuss proper citation practices, but it is not their job to make sure students properly disclose AI use.