Update on the Writing Center

The Writing Center has served nearly 500 students during the fall 2005 semester, and seen a wider range of students from disciplines outside the curriculum offered by the English department. In just the second semester of operation, the Writing Center has exceeded the number of sessions between staff and students by over 150 in comparison with the first semester. In the spring of 2005, Writing Center staff scheduled hours with teachers of composition courses to arrange for their students to meet with writing consultants about their writing projects. These scheduled appointments provided an immediate number of students for the staff to assist in learning about reading and writing. What is most remarkable about the increased total number of students seen at the Writing Center this semeste is that we switched from pre-scheduling appointments with mostly composition courses to operating on a drop-in-basis only.

Students who have utilized the Writing Center fill out evaluations after each session with a writing consultant. These evaluations offer overwhelmingly stellar reviews of the support staff members who have offered to the hundreds of students who visited the Writing Center.

Besides the increased use of the Writing Center, we also now enjoy the highest number of staff trained in one-on-one pedagogies. Additionally, in the spring 2006 semester, three to four new interms will join our current staff members. As a result, we will be able to help more students and slightly increase our hours of operation.

Many thianks to Marty Price for maintaining our website (now easily found by clicking "W" on the MSU homepage), and to our caring and professional graduate students who work in the Writing Center.

Dr. Tennyson O'Donnell
Director of the Writing Center