Writing workshops are delivered through many formats, from campus sessions and faculty-requested visits to online appointments and multi-day dissertation intensives. Reports from Purdue OWL, San José State University’s Writing Center, and the University of North Alabama’s Center for Writing Excellence show how participation and delivery models have varied by institution and measurement period.
Contents
- Writing workshop activity at a glance
- Purdue OWL workshop delivery
- Graduate writing intensives
- Online writing support
- SJSU participation and satisfaction
- Workshop topics at UNA
Writing workshop activity at a glance
The available institutional reports measure different things, so their counts should not be treated as a single industry benchmark. Purdue OWL reported 79 workshops in academic year 2023–2024. In the prior academic year, it reported 32 virtual workshops, 33 campus-wide workshops and faculty consultations, 12 remote OWL tours, and three workshops specifically for graduate student writing. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
San José State University reported 43 regularly scheduled workshops in 2023–2024. It also completed 82 in-class, faculty-requested workshops, house calls, and tours during that academic year. (SJSU Writing Center annual report.) These are separate activity categories in the report, so the figures describe the center’s reported programming rather than a common workshop format.
The University of North Alabama’s Center for Writing Excellence reported topic-specific workshops in two older measurement periods. It recorded 52 APA workshops in fall 2015 and 81 in spring 2016. The center also reported 40 Chicago Manual of Style workshops, seven MLA workshops, 12 avoiding-plagiarism workshops, and one collaborative-writing workshop in fall 2015. (UNA Center for Writing Excellence report.)
| Institution and period | Reported workshop activity | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Purdue OWL, AY 2023–2024 | 79 | Workshops |
| SJSU Writing Center, 2023–2024 | 43 | Regularly scheduled workshops |
| SJSU Writing Center, 2023–2024 | 82 | In-class, requested workshops, house calls, and tours |
| UNA CWE, fall 2015 | 52 | APA workshops |
| UNA CWE, spring 2016 | 81 | APA workshops |
These figures span different years and reporting definitions. The UNA figures are historical report data from 2015–2016, while the Purdue OWL and SJSU figures cover 2023–2024 or nearby academic years.
Purdue OWL workshop delivery
Purdue OWL’s annual reports provide one of the clearest views of changing writing-support delivery. In academic year 2023–2024, 47.5% of Purdue OWL tutorial sessions were virtual. The same report recorded 2,377 e-tutoring appointments and 868 live online chat appointments. It also reported 79 workshops during the academic year.
The preceding academic year showed a larger virtual share: 62.3% of tutorial sessions were virtual in AY 2022–2023. Purdue OWL recorded 2,841 e-tutoring appointments and 1,741 live online chat appointments in that period. Its programming included 32 virtual workshops, 33 campus-wide workshops and faculty consultations, 12 remote OWL tours, and three graduate student writing workshops. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
In AY 2021–2022, Purdue OWL reported that virtual appointments accounted for 79% of all tutorial sessions. It recorded 3,301 e-tutoring appointments, 1,263 live online chat appointments, and 4,564 overall virtual appointments. The report also listed 31 campus-wide workshops and four separate fall 2021 sessions on writing college entrance exams for MEP. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
The reported virtual-session share therefore appears in three distinct academic-year measurements: 79% in AY 2021–2022, 62.3% in AY 2022–2023, and 47.5% in AY 2023–2024. These percentages describe tutorial sessions, not necessarily the share of all workshops. Workshop counts and virtual appointment counts are reported as separate measures.
Purdue OWL also reported substantial reach beyond workshop attendance. In 2024–2025, its website traffic exceeded 130 million pageviews and reached 33.8 million unique users. The annual report recorded 5,486 visits from 2,026 clients, with about 40% of visits coming from international students. Purdue OWL served students from over 35 countries during that period. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
Graduate writing intensives
Purdue OWL’s Intensive Writing Experience, or IWE, was a three-day program for dissertation writers. The reports distinguish between people who attended at least one day and those who attended all three days.
In summer 2023, Purdue OWL ran five IWE sessions. Eighty-nine graduate students attended at least one day, and 81 attended all three days. The participants included 67 doctoral dissertation writers and 22 master’s thesis writers. Their reported writing stages were 51 drafting, 14 revising, and 24 just getting started. Sixty-two attendees self-identified as international students. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
In summer 2022, Purdue OWL held four IWE sessions. Seventy-one graduate students attended at least one day, while 65 attended all three days. Participants represented 41 disciplines. The report identified 49 doctoral dissertation writers and 22 master’s thesis writers. It also recorded 39 participants drafting, eight revising, and 23 just getting started; 37 attendees self-identified as international students. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
The summer 2021 IWE had 56 graduate students attend at least one day, with 51 attending all three days. Participants represented 34 disciplines. The report counted 42 doctoral dissertation writers and 12 master’s thesis writers. It recorded 38 participants drafting, three revising, and 15 just getting started, while 39 attendees self-identified as international students. (Purdue OWL annual report.)
| Summer IWE period | At least one day | All three days | Disciplines reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | 51 | 34 |
| 2022 | 71 | 65 | 41 |
| 2023 | 89 | 81 | Not reported in the supplied figure |
The attendance measures are not the same as unique annual workshop clients. They describe participation in a particular three-day intensive and retain the dates and program context reported by Purdue OWL.
Online writing support
The Purdue OWL figures show that writing support can extend beyond scheduled workshops. E-tutoring and live online chat were separately reported in each of the three academic years covered by the annual-report figures.
| Academic year | E-tutoring appointments | Live online chat appointments | Virtual-session share |
|---|---|---|---|
| AY 2021–2022 | 3,301 | 1,263 | 79% of tutorial sessions |
| AY 2022–2023 | 2,841 | 1,741 | 62.3% of tutorial sessions |
| AY 2023–2024 | 2,377 | 868 | 47.5% of tutorial sessions |
Purdue OWL reported 4,564 overall virtual appointments in AY 2021–2022. The e-tutoring and live-chat figures are individual reported categories, while the overall virtual-appointment figure is presented separately. The reports also distinguish remote tours and virtual workshops from tutorial sessions.
The international dimension is visible in the same reporting. Purdue OWL said that international students represented 44% of all visits in AY 2022–2023. In summer 2023, 62 IWE attendees self-identified as international students, compared with 37 in summer 2022 and 39 in summer 2021. The 2024–2025 annual report described about 40% of visits as coming from international students and said students from over 35 countries were served.
SJSU participation and satisfaction
San José State University’s Writing Center reported 1,300 unique clients and 3,463 tutoring sessions in 2023–2024. Its workshop activity included 43 regularly scheduled workshops and 82 in-class, faculty-requested workshops, house calls, and tours. (SJSU Writing Center annual report.)
The same annual report included satisfaction measures on a five-point scale. Average tutoring satisfaction was 4.77 out of 5, reported as 95.4%. Average workshop satisfaction was 4.75 out of 5, reported as 95%.
| SJSU measure, 2023–2024 | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Unique clients | 1,300 |
| Tutoring sessions | 3,463 |
| Regularly scheduled workshops | 43 |
| In-class, requested workshops, house calls, and tours | 82 |
| Average tutoring satisfaction | 4.77/5 (95.4%) |
| Average workshop satisfaction | 4.75/5 (95%) |
These satisfaction figures are averages reported by SJSU. They are not attendance rates, completion rates, or a cross-institution comparison. The report’s workshop satisfaction result specifically concerns the average workshop score, while the tutoring result concerns tutoring.
Workshop topics at UNA
The University of North Alabama’s Center for Writing Excellence reported workshop counts by writing and citation topic in fall 2015 and spring 2016. APA instruction was recorded in both periods: 52 workshops in fall 2015 and 81 in spring 2016. The report also listed 40 Chicago Manual of Style workshops in fall 2015.
Other fall 2015 topics included seven MLA workshops, 12 avoiding-plagiarism workshops, and one collaborative-writing workshop. The report additionally said international students visited the CWE more than 20 times during fall 2015–spring 2016. (UNA Center for Writing Excellence report.)
Because these UNA figures come from an older report and use topic-specific counts, they should be read as historical program activity rather than current sector-wide demand. They still show the range of subjects that a writing center may track separately: citation styles, academic integrity, and collaborative writing.
Across these reports, the measurable picture is broad: workshop counts, online appointments, multi-day graduate programs, unique clients, satisfaction ratings, international participation, and topic-specific programming. Each statistic is tied to its institution and measurement period, so the most useful comparisons keep those definitions visible.