Tip from university writer, dismissed at first (5)
I believe the answer is:
upend
'tip' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'university writer dismissed at first' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'writer' becomes 'pen' (something which writes).
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'dismissed' is 'd'.
'u'+'pen'+'d'='UPEND'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for upend that I've seen before include "Turn upside down" , "Turn upside-down" , "Affect drastically" , "change things drastically" , "Tip on side" .)