Writing Center Research Project

Writing Center Field Research Project

Westchester Community College

Overview of Contents

1. History of Westchester Community College 2
2. History of the Academic Support Center 3
3. Physical Description 4
4. Mission and Philosophy of the Writing Tutorial 5
5. Clientele 6
6. Budget 8
7. Tutors: Selection and Training 8
8. Tutoring in Practice 10
9. Online Tutoring 12
10. Outreach 12
11. Future 13
12. Conclusion 13
13. Work Cited 15
14. Appendix 16-20

The Writing Tutorial at the Westchester Community College offers free tutoring for all students. The Writing Centers are unique in the way how they help students to improve and develop their writing skills because the students feel free to come and show their writing with knowing that the tutors are not grading or judging them. The Writing Tutorial at Westchester Community College offers a place, where students feel welcome and benefits from the service. The 30 tutors at the Writing Tutorial focused to help the students with improving their writing skills which they can use their whole life.

History of the Westchester Community College

Westchester Community College was founded in 1946 as the New York State institute of Applied Arts and Sciences in White Plains, New York and it is a part of the SUNY system. The County of Westchester purchased the 360-acre John Hartford estate in Valhalla and designed 218 acres for the community college. Therefore in the following years, the Westchester County built eight major buildings. Engineering Technologies was built in 1962, Student Center in 1963, Physical Education Building in 1964, Classroom Building in 1967, Learning Resource Center in 1969, Science Building in 1978, Academic Arts Building in 1981, and Administration Building in 1988. The resulting mix of modern and traditional architecture, together with the rolling terrain and mature trees and plantings, makes for an unusually beautiful campus. The Westchester Community College provides instruction at twelve other off campuses additionally to the Valhalla campus. These are in Peekskill, Ossining, White Plains, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Shrub Oak, New Rochelle, Mahopac and Port Chester. The Westchester Community college employed full-time 547 and half-time 26 stuff in fall 2008. In fall 2009 14,147 Students were enrolled and 55% of them was fulltime students (Appendix A).

History of the Academic Support Center

In the 1970’s by an English faculty member named Frank Messmann the Writing tutorial was started in a “little cubby hole” of a room in the Science Building. Until it found a home in the library, the Writing Tutorial moved to several other small rooms on the campus.

Frank Madden became the director of the writing tutorial in the early 1980’s. He hired a number of tutors so they could create a course called Advanced Rhetoric which became a Writing Project Seminar. Students could sign up and meet once a week to discuss their paper and than they could go to a three hours tutoring a week.

In the middle of 1980’, Shirley Lim and following Bill Costanzo took over and became the Writing directors. The Writing center grew and improved their services until 2005. In 2005, the independent writing centers control was given to the library. Frank Madden explains: “There was a directive from the Academic Dean that the tutorial services should be centralized under the auspices of Dean Pollard. This was part of a general restructuring of the Division so the support services all came together and the Writing Center became an appendage of the ASC.” With mingled feeling the writing center accepted this situation. The writing center became the Writing tutorial, a part from the Academic Support Center. Beth Holden explained that they had a long history with the Writing Center. They created it, they grew it and then, in some respect, it was taken away from them.

The Academic Support Center offers different kind of help, for example, speech and pronunciation, science tutorial, ESL, math and reading. The writing tutorial is tutoring in writing across the curriculum. In addition, students can take a Basic Writing Practice Exit Exam at the Writing Tutorial. These will be corrected and discussed with a tutor, also the tutee can see the mistakes and can avoid these by the real exam (Appendix B).

Physical Description

Westchester Community College is situated on top of a little hill that is surrounded with trees. Students are able to reach school either by car or bus. The location of the school reminds me of a mysterious and hidden place which is far from the eyes. In other words, one can find himself/herself in a different world once they enter from main road to the school’s road. It is a two way road that has many speed bumps and surrounded by trees. After a while of driving, campus buildings start appearing. The college campus is constituted from three different buildings and every building has its own parking lot. Since it is a huge campus, I had some difficulty in the beginning. The college’s parking lot is very similar to a mall’s parking lot which is full of cars. There are little signboards in the parking lot which shows the directions of the college. Even though those signboards, I still had to ask the direction of library to the students since the campus is huge. They directed me to the library with five minutes walking distance. I was looking for library since the writing tutorial is located inside the library. Westchester Community College’s campus which is surrounded by trees reminded me of Harry Potter’s school since everything that is located around the college belongs to the college. In other words, the university is just like a little state itself.

The library of Westchester Community College is not an historical building. Since it is built from stone, its appearance looks very cold. Everyone is able to enter to the library without showing an ID. I was surprised that there was no security at the entrance of the library. The appearance of the library from outside is very modern. The inside of the library is very clean and there are very different paintings on the wall.

The writing tutorial sign can be seen on the right hand of the entrance of the library. There is another entrance on the right side and there is a little door that goes to the writing tutorial and in front of it there are four two-seated sofas. Writing tutorial room is shaped like “L” and there are no windows inside the room. In the entrance of the room, there is a secretary on the right side and there is a little room that is made of portable walls on the left side of the room. In the room, there are two circle and 3 square tables. Bookshelves are also on the right side of the room. In the across of the room, there are four computers. In the other side of the room, there is computer lab. The portable walls separate computers from each other. There are three computers in separate two aisles. In general, writing tutorial looks very clean and peaceful place. However, side of the room which has tables looks more squeezed (Appendix C & D).

Mission and Philosophy of the Writing Tutorial

All tutees get one to one assistance to develop and improve reading and writing skills. The Writing Tutorials primary goal is to bring the students towards independence in these skills. To accomplish this goal the tutors follow the philosophy of minimalist tutoring. Students get sometimes the wrong idea that tutors will do the work for them. But the main idea of tutoring is not to correct spelling mistakes, check stylistic and also to explain the reading. The main idea of minimalist tutoring according to Jeff Brooks is that “Ideally, the student should be the only active agent in improving the paper” because “[the] primary object in the writing session is not the paper, but the student” (224). Beth Holden also mentions that the main goal of the tutor is not to create a perfect paper; the tutor holds up the acquired knowledge and helps students to find their own writing style. Beth Holden also suggests to the tutors to sit on your hands if you take the pen and start to correct the paper and she also explains that the primary purpose of tutoring is to help students to become confident in their writing by guiding and assisting them until they become independent writers and learners and can continue on their own.

The Writing Tutorial is a place, where students can bring and show their writings without fear to get a bad grade or other people think he/she is stupid. Therefore, a writing center/tutorial should provide a place where students feel welcome. Stephen North point this very clear out by saying that the writing center is more “student-centered” and therefore the writing center should present another atmosphere than classrooms (74).

Clientele

When we want to talk about the clientele at the Writing Tutorial, first we have to talk about the clientele at Westchester Community College.According to the homepage of the Westchester Community College approximately, 14,000 students are matriculated in Fall 2009. Fifty-two % of the students are from other ethnics than white American. Twenty % are black, 22 % are Hispanic, 5 % are Pacific Islander or Asian, 2 % foreign, 1 % American Indian and Alaskan Native. 2% of the students did nor reported their ethnics. The Westchester Community College is a multicultural college with students from the whole world.

Fifty-five % of the students are full-time students with an age average of 21.7. The average age of part -time students is 32.3. Fifty-five % are female student. The Westchester Community College has to deal with nontraditional students (Appendix A). Nontraditional students, also called returning students who are students who want to start college after several years of graduation from high school. Especially nowadays economical situation where jobs are not guaranteed, people want to improve their education. Nontraditional students usually have families and a fulltime job and college must fit into their challenging schedule. (71, Ryan and Zimmerelli ). Tere Wisell, director of admissions at Westchester Community College noticed one change during the past several years. She suggested to the New York Times in 2004/08/29, there has been a slight shift in the composition of the student body. What had begun nearly six decades ago as a higher education institution primarily for nontraditional students, like older students, single parents and workers who needed to gain additional skills, has increasingly become the college of choice for high school graduates. Tutors should be aware by nontraditional students usually have considerable anxieties about their scholarly aptitude and performance (71, Ryan and Zimmerelli). To avoid conflicts with adult learners the tutor should be sensitive about the writer’s anxiety and providing the tutee to return to school despite the barricades. It is also helpful to guide the nontraditional student to use real-world experience in their paper. When I interviewed a tutor, who is volunteering at the writing tutorial for 15 years, he explained that the difference between traditional and nontraditional students is that he cannot make jokes with or about the paper of the nontraditional students. These are adults, he explained, they have families, full time jobs and other responsibilities. They take their “work” serious and this is their last chance to change their life. They expect help but with respect.

Students are not supposed to make an appointment to get help with their writing. They come in and wait for the next available tutor. How long the session takes depends on how much time the correction of the paper takes and how many students wait. The Writing Tutorial is usually open from Monday to Tuesday between 9 am and 4 pm. 3160 students got help at the Writing Tutorial in the spring semester of 2009.. During the 14 weeks long semester which makes 225.7 students per week, and 45.1 students’ per day. By the end of December they offer 3 open Saturdays so nontraditional students can take advantage of the Writing Tutorial.

Budget

The Academic Support Center consists of the number of different tutorials, such as Science, Accounting, ESL, Math, and Reading, CIS, Mathematics and Physics, Speech and Pronunciation, and Writing tutorials. The Academic Support Center became in 2009/2010 for all this services $ 6.978.107. In compare to the Academic Support Center the library has only % 3.849.868 for use (Appendix D). Despite of the $ 6.978.107 which the Academic Center has for the services, it is remarkable that the Writing Tutorial has not a full-time adjunct coordinator. Beth Holden, the adjunct Coordinator of the Writing Tutorial told in the interview that she tried to convince and explained to the Academic Support Center that the Writing Tutorial needs a full-time coordinator. This year the Academic Support Center agreed but they posted this job option and everybody can apply for this position. It is not sure, that Beth Holden will keep her job (Appendix E).

Tutors: Selection and Training

The Writing tutorial has 30 part-time employees. Twenty-two of them are volunteers from the neighboring community, six tutors are senior tutors, and only 2 are peer tutors. To work at the Writing Tutorial applications has to fulfill some requirements. The volunteer tutors have to have bachelor degrees and they should have some experiences with language and writing. In contrast of the volunteer tutors the senior tutors must have at least a bachelor degree and should have been worked in teaching or tutoring. The peer tutors can tutor at the Writing Tutorial when they have completed Literature and Composition 1 and 2 courses with an A. In addition, they need a recommendation from their professors to work at the Writing Tutorial.

Per tutors earn $ 9,30 per hour and after teaching 100 hours the per tutors get $ 13 per hour (60 minutes). Senior tutors earn per hour $ 15.

After the interview with the adjunct coordinator, the applications have to write different essays and summaries. They have to write a 1-2 page long prompt; they have to read an article and write a 2 pages long essay incorporating paraphrases. The job candidates have also to present that they can use MLA style. After a year of tutoring the tutors should receive CRLA (College Learning and Reading Association) certification of Level 1. All tutors have to go through a 6 hours training and they have to use the Tutoring and Development Handbook as resource. This book is made by the Writing Tutorial and prepares and answers question which the tutors could have. In this book, the tutors can find lesson on MLA style and how to explain the MLA rules to the students, how to write paragraphs and so on. All new tutors have also to shadow a professional tutor for at least 6 hours. The adjunct coordinator Beth Holden experienced that new tutors enjoy visiting workshops which gives on a regular basic.

The adjunct coordinator Beth Holden sees tutoring as an “isolated work”, and therefore she organizes a meeting “Tutors Talk” to discuss different questions and spent time together with coffee and cookies. This enhances the feeling that the Writing Tutorial works as a whole group and shares the same interests.

Tutoring in Praxis

I joined a tutorial session and experienced what the adjunct coordinator Beth Holden means by “Learning never Stops”. The tutor was an elderly man, who is volunteering at the Tutorial Center for 7 years. He was very calm and did not spoke a lot with the tutee. He only asked questions and tried to push the student to think more about her writing. The student had a 4 pages history paper in which she Immanuel Kant’s book “Critique of Judgment” discussed. The main focus on her paper was to define Immanuel Kant’s point of view about the difference between taste and beauty. The due date to hand in the paper was also on this day.

She showed her paper and explained to the tutor that she cannot work on her paper. The tutor took the paper, held the pen and started to read half aloud and half silent. During he read the paper, he made some grammatical correction without any explanation. Beth Holden says to sit on your hand if you need to because a tutor is not there to edit and create a perfect paper. The tutor is more like a coach who constantly reinforces acquired knowledge and lets students find their own writing voice.

He pointed to a paragraph and asked what she means or what is she trying to say. The tutee took the paper and started to read and tried to explain but she said she cannot write down what she wants to say. He said that she has to speak out what she tries to say. After she explained; the tutor gave her the pen and said that she should write down what she said. The tutee could not write down what she was trying to say. She did not understand the essay, what she had to read for her paper. The tutor asked her to read some parts from the essay of Immanuel Kant. They discussed some paragraphs and it seemed that the tutor was also reading this for the first time and he tried to get an idea about Immanuel Kant’s explanation about the difference between taste and beauty. Then he asked for the assignment sheet. He wanted to make sure that the student understood the assignment. They discussed the assignment and connected it with her paper to see how she answered to the questions. After 30 minutes the tutee said that she needs more time to understand the essay and that she will ask her professor for an extension. The tutor gave her the advice to correct the grammatical mistakes and to show this paper to the professor, so he knows that she started to work on her assignment but that she tries to improve her paper. The tutor said that she should read first the paper again and understand the main ideas of Immanuel Kant.

This tutorial session showed me that as a tutor you have the chance to learn everyday new knowledge in different areas. As a tutor you also profit from the paper of the other students. Like Beth Holden said “Learning never Stops”. It is also challenging to work with topics you have never read before but an experienced tutor, like the tutor I watched, knows how to handle this situation. By reading the essay and trying to get the main idea of the essay. In the article “Looking at the whole text” written by Staden and Norhaus describes this as a learning from each other. They are both active and engaging on another.

The tutor corrected some grammatical mistakes without any explanations. The student did not ask what she had done wrong. Correction should not the main interest of the tutor. The main interest should be in explanation of the mistakes. Beth Holden explains that to know the grammatical rules is like getting the driver’s license. The students learn when to go and when to stop during driving on the road.

Online Tutoring

“Ask a Tutor” is a synchronic e mail based tutoring at the Writing Tutorial. All students can send per email their whole paper to the Writing Tutorial. It takes no longer than 24 hours to get response. From Monday to Friday there is a tutor who is responsible to answer students’ email. Beth Holden explains that online tutoring is more used by nontraditional students because they have no time to come in and have face-to-face tutoring. The slogan for the online tutoring “Don’t Drop Out…Drop in” seems design for nontraditional students. Instead to give up because of time management they can get help online.

The Writing Tutorial established online tutoring in fall 2007. In the first semester 12 students took advantage from this service. In fall 2008 62 different students used the online tutoring and in general 148 times the online tutoring was used. This means, that 62 students took at least in one semester twice advantage from this service. On the basic of this statistic it seems that online tutoring becomes more and more popular.

Outreach

To advertise their services the Writing Tutorial sends emails, flyers and post schedules of workshops around the campus. The flyers are handed out around the campus by the receptionist. The services are also published in school newspaper. Sometimes by the beginning of the semester tutors goes around the classes and explains students how the Writing Tutorial can help them. Another strategy is to work with other student services, like the women’s organization, on campus and organizing different events together. The Writing Tutorial celebrates every October the National Tutor week.

Future

The Writing Tutorial is faced with big challenge. According to Beth Holden every semester more students use the Writing Tutorial services and the place does not fulfill the expectations. It is clear, that the Writing Tutorial needs a bigger place, where they can expand the services and serve more students.

Almost 80 % of the tutors are volunteers which cannot be forced to learn or improve their computer skills or to attend on workshops. This displaces another problem because the Writing Tutorial is depending on the not paid volunteers. The Writing Tutorial does appreciate the help of the volunteers but wish also more submission.

This year the Academic Support Center agreed to position a full-time coordinator at the Writing Tutorial. With a full- time coordinator the Writing Tutorial can broad their office hours and improve the services. The current adjunct coordinator Beth Holden has to apply for this job and it is not sure that she will get this job again.

Conclusion

Beth Holden explains the Writing Tutorial as a place where students can come in and get help from experiences and professional tutors. It is a place, where students can find solutions to solve their writing weaknesses. But “The ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’ of a writing center polic[ies] cannot judged as absolutes, but must ultimately be evaluated in items of specific consequences to or behaviors of the clients and institutions it serves” (Clark 257). It is always difficult to determine good or bad. A writing center can be perfect in all services but it is important what the clients do with it and in which purpose they take advantage of it. A Writing Center helps students to progress in their writing and shows where and how they correct their paper.

By correcting it is also important that the tutors are willing to be up to date. For example to learn new things, like MLA style or computer programs because these are the substance to teach writing nowadays. It was very surprising for me that the Writing Tutorial has 22 volunteers. On the one hand it is good because they are doing this not for money and doing this from ideological reasons and this bears why they help well but on the other hand because they are volunteering the adjunct coordinator cannot force them to do or learn more.

All together the Writing Tutorial full-fills the requirements which a writing center has to have to provide a good environment.

Works Cited

About The College. Westchester Community College, State University of New York. Web. 1 Nov. 2010. <>.

.Brooks, Jeff. “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work.” The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice. Ed. Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner. New York: Pearson Education, 2008. 219-224. Print.

Holden, Beth. Personal Interview. 5 Nov. 2010.

North, Stephen M. “The Idea of a Writing Center.” The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice. Ed. Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner. New York: Pearson Education, 2008. 63-78. Print.

Ryan, Leigh, and Lisa Zimmerelli. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. Print.