Writing Center Feature (In Progress)
Jordan Kohut:
1. What is your major?
My major is a Secondary Education with a Writing-Intensive English double major.
2. Why did you want to work at the writing center?
I have always loved helping others with their writing. I wanted to work at our
writing center not only because it provided me the opportunity to do this, but
also because of its strong sense of community. It's a really great opportunity
to prepare me for working with high school students on their writing
too.
3. What’s most challenging about working there?
What's most challenging is approaching unfamiliar genres of writing.
Things that push me out of my comfort zone and force me to think on my feet.
4. What is your favorite part?
My favorite part again is the community, including both our staff and our visitors.
Our staff is intellectually stimulating and so welcoming. With our writers I'm
always learning new information! It's so fun.
5. Have you found that your own writing has changed because of your work at the
writing center?
My own writing has really strengthened, particularly in the questions I ask myself.
When I'm in a conference I can find promoting questions or guiding questions to
help my writer get their argument, information, or data on track. I'm able to
think more like the audience when I'm doing my own writing. I consider all these
different aspects of the writing process from constantly asking others.
Additionally, I can ask advice from my coworkers. I take my own work in
sometimes!
LeeAnn Kjos:
1. What is your major?
Writing-Intensive English and Psychology with a minor in Marketing.
2. Why did you want to work at the writing center?
I wanted to learn more about the revision process and how to actually edit my own,
as well as others' papers. I was very interested in learning how writers
actually start their writing process and what factors go into each aspect. I
also thought it would be great experience for me since I would love to do work
in some part of the writing process.
3. What’s most challenging about working there?
At times there will be a writer that schedules an appointment and I have no previous
knowledge of their subject. This can be challenging because I don't always know
the proper vocabulary or how to actually wrap my head around the topic. But this
is bound to happen with any paper or project that a writer brings in and it just
requires a different approach that needs to be taken.
4. What is your favorite part?
My favorite part of being a writing center tutor is how much I actually learn
from the writers that schedule appointments with me. I love repeated clients
that are working on a large project because I can learn so much about subject
matter such as nursing, law, or engineering. As well as this, every interaction
with a writer teaches me new techniques for my tutoring styles, as well as how
to approach my own papers.
5. Have you found that your own writing has changed because of your work at the
writing center?
I definitely do! As stated above, working with a wide variety of writers has given
me my own tips on how to brainstorm, edit, revise, etc. This experience has also
made me think more analytically about my own papers when rereading them and
about being more open to asking friends, co-workers, and professors for feedback on my
writing.
Vince Van Dyke:
1. What is your major?
I am an Accounting and Marketing double major.
2. Why do you want to work in the writing center?
I want to work in the writing center because I enjoy writing and helping others and I
thought this would be a good combination.
3. What are you learning in the class?
Right now, we are learning the importance of genres and how they
will help us in our career as tutors.
4. What are you learning in the class?
I have shadowed. The experience was eye-opening. Being
able to sit and watch and learn has really prepared me with knowledge and
examples that I can draw on for when I lead a session. I have not gotten to step in as
a tutor yet, but I imagine that will occur soon.
Interview with Rebecca Nowacek answers:
How long have you’ve had the role as director of the Writing Center?
3rd year
Why did you want to take this position?
Because I love to work with undergraduate and graduate students. It's an opportunity to talk
with all sorts of writers and it gives a chance to work with faculty in every discipline. I enjoy
working over time with the tutors, and they are students too, they learn too. It's fun to work with
people for a couple years and get to watch their grow and see them take it to conferences. I like getting
to talk to writers about their ideas without having to grade it!
What are your other roles on campus?
I’m a professor in the English department. I also teach writing classes in the writing
major, as well as teach graduate level classes. I even teach classes about teaching writing.
I teach a few classes about drama. I am also involved in the University’s academic integrity community.
I get to work with a group of undergraduate students to develop an academic humanities conference. And also a
bunch of research projects.
Why do staff members take a class before applying to the Writing Center? What do
prospective tutors learn in this class?
The work that we do in the writing center is working with people at different
stages of the writing process, so we need to help coach people through that
process. We have people come in with dissertations, theses. There are lots of
kinds of knowledges that I think it’s important to give people an opportunity to
build up before they start working. It's also important that they complete 15 hours of
observation.
How has the Writing Center grown or changed since you’ve become director?
The last 5 years, we've doubled in the number of students involved in the writing center. We have worked
pretty hard to build a staff of tutors with a wide range of majors such as: English, education, psychology,
sociology, biological sciences, accounting and business. We've also continued to make strides with
diversifying within the writing center. Another cool thing we've started doing is workshops around
campus. Most are meant to address genres that people are interested in like literature review, writers
block, writers retreats, workshops for faculty, teaching writing, and revising and resubmitting. We also
now have satellite centers with writing center staff in the dining hall in McCormick and within the Alumni
Memorial Union.
What is your favorite part of this job?
Ultimately, my favorite thing is getting to talk with writers about their writing and their ideas. It is so cool
when you can actually see the learning happening!
What has been memorable about working at the Writing Center?
One of the most memorable things has been getting to see students present their research at conferences.
The students are so pleased with their work, and that is very gratifying. I get to do this regularly, and it's nice
to move beyond Marquette and see students do something on their own.
Take us through the process when a student comes in to get a piece of writing reviewed.
It can vary considerably depending on where the writer is. A writer can come in
with no writing at all and we can help them with brainstorming. More often,
people come in with a draft and we ask them to read them to read their draft out
loud. We’ll ask the writer what they want feedback on. We’ll help them evaluate
the pros and cons of saying things a certain way, using certain vocabulary, etc.
How many staff members are there?
Right now we have five graduate students. Currently it's a little small for our undergraduate
students, as we only have about ten. We have five members of reception staff. We have no full
time administration assistant. The reception staff does a great job working as a group. I invite
them to participate in staff meetings, so they can better understand and answer student questions.
What is the writing center’s mission?
Promote a culture of writing on campus. Offer workshops, come in to
classrooms, sponsor activities, etc.
Who was Norman H. Ott (the person whose name we see)?
He was a very generous person who decided to give the University a sum of
money specifically earmarked for the Writing Center.
What might our readers be interested in learning that we wouldn’t think to
ask?
Writers tend to think that the writing center is for bad writers or people who are in
trouble. It is a place for writers who care about their writing and just want to learn more.
Sometimes great writers just need feedback or to brainstorm, or even someone else to read over
their work. The writing center is all about writing that takes many forms.
What are your goals going forward?
Diversify the staff further, build the writing center furhter, increase our budget to hire more
tutors, continue to try to be available to writers at all of their points of need.