The Writing Center :: Just for Faculty
Just for Faculty The Writing Center serves as an important resource for faculty interested in enhancing or simply examining their teaching or use of writing in their courses. Writing Center instruction supports the process of peer review and multiple drafts/revision but in no way replaces instructor feedback. The Writing Center encourages writing across the curriculum and serves as a resource center for the practical and theoretical aspects of composition and rhetoric.
How the Writing Center Can Help You
• The Writing Center Library houses an extensive collection of thematic and rhetorical readers, rhetorics, literary anthologies, texts on teaching writing with literature and teaching creative writing, and current writing handbooks, including the official MLA, APA, and Chicago style manuals. Books on all aspects of composition and rhetorical theory and practice, including information on basic and ELL writers, literacy studies, linguistics, argumentation, writing centers, and writing across the curriculum also are available.
• One-on-one consultations may be arranged to discuss particularly challenging student writing. Studies indicate that when teachers and tutors communicate, student success is increased. Writing Center tutors are happy to discuss tutorial sessions in more depth when appropriate, offering insight into student perceptions of assignments, comments, etc.
• Session reports in which tutors summarize the work done in a student tutoring session are sent to faculty so they (1) know that a student has visited the Center and (2) can better understand and support efforts to improve the student's writing.
How You Can Help the Writing Center Help Your Students
- First and foremost, tell your students about the Writing Center! Informational handouts on the Writing Center are available for distribution to your classes, and you can schedule a tutor “outreach” visit to your class so that students can receive a “personal” introduction to the Center. To obtain handouts or schedule an outreach, please contact Mary Lou Odom at modom3@kennesaw.edu.
- Help students understand the protocol and mission of the Writing Center . Remind them to make appointments to see a tutor and to adhere to the policies found on the Writing Center 's homepage and posted in the Center. Please do not make the Writing Center a “requirement” for your entire class. Students get little out of Writing Center instruction when they feel forced to be there or perceive the visit as remediation or punishment. Such requirements also can make it impossible for other students from other classes to be seen at all. Do encourage use of the Center to all students and strongly advocate a visit for those individuals who are in the greatest need of help.
- Help students to see the Writing Center as a site of teaching and learning by avoiding suggestions that it is a place where papers are “checked,” “proofread,” or “edited.” Please do not have students “make-up” missed peer reviews or other class elements with a visit to the Writing Center .
Lastly, let us know how we're doing. If you're pleased with a session, tell us! If you have concerns, we'd like to know that too. Keeping the lines of communication open is essential to helping each other help our student writers.
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