Writing and Communication Center moves to the UTC Library

The new Writing and Communication Center is a place for “writers helping writers” no matter their ability levels. The Writing and Communication Center helps UTC faculty, staff, and especially students, both undergrads and graduate students, with all aspects of the writing process.

“We help students with all ability levels, from those who are struggling to those who are quite proficient at writing. We welcome students who come in with nothing but an assignment sheet and students with a strong paper who just want someone to give it a final look,” said Dr. Chad Littleton, Interim Director of the UTC Writing and Communication Center.

The Center can help with any type of writing assignment. It doesn’t have to be academic – consultants have also helped with college application essays, personal writing, resumes, fiction writing, and more. If it’s writing, the Center can help.

“We’re trying to really return to the heart of a writing center, which is being a place we can work on writing and talking about writing. This has allowed us to break certain erroneous perceptions about the Center that existed before, such as the idea that, ‘Oh, that’s just where you go for help with freshman comp,’” Littleton said.

The center doesn’t edit papers, however.

“The Center focuses on higher order concerns with the writing process such as ideas, structure, flow, genre. We know that students sometimes struggle with grammar, and we can help with that, but not correct it for them. We look through your paper with you and spot trends, problems, and help the student learn what those are and how to correct. We teach, we don’t edit,” Littleton said.

The Center, previously located in Holt Hall, found a new home on the third floor of the new Library.

“It makes a lot of sense, having the Center in the library. It’s a more central location for everyone – you’re going to be in the library anyway if you want to succeed,” Littleton said.

Along with the move comes an organizational shift. The Center is no longer under the jurisdiction of the English Department; it is now under the services of the Library.

“This has allowed the Center to strengthen some partnerships as well as create new ones. The nice thing about being in the Library is having all the library’s resources in the same building. If someone comes in for writing help, and they also need research help, they can now walk one floor down and get that,” Littleton said. “We’ve also hosted eight writing workshops this year and hope to host more next year.”

The Center staff is a diverse group of students, and Littleton wants people to know that they can help anyone with writing.

“We want everyone to know our staff is also multidisciplinary. While there are certainly English majors among the staff, they don’t make up the majority. We also now they have a full time graduate student, who can work with other graduate students and with faculty and staff,” Littleton said.

The Center has moved its appointment booking system entirely online. The first time patrons log in, they will need to make an account. After that, they can see all available and closed appointment times and change or cancel appointments online. They can also search for consultants to work with. They will have the option to view consultant biographies, as well as limit their search, for example to a certain subject or citation style, to find a consultant who specializes in that area.

“Walk-in business has slowed down tremendously, which is a good thing, because students are now making appointments online. People are still welcome to walk in if they need help, but scheduling ahead of time makes sure that there is someone to help you when you know you need it,” Littleton said.

The online platform also provides statistics of who uses the Center, for what, and when, allowing the Center to plan accordingly. Students can also put their cell phone number in and receive text reminders of their appointment. After the student’s appointment, they are sent an email survey, which is in no way linked to the student, where they can rate their experience.

“So far, our consultants have received very strong ratings, approximately 95%. It’s great to get honest feedback so I can see where we need to improve,” Littleton said.

The Center will also be opened throughout the summer for the first time. It will have a limited summer schedule of 20 hours per week.

“Previously, I’ve taught classes during the summer, and I had students who needed additional help with writing, but there was no where they could go. That won’t be the case anymore,” Littleton said.

The full time Writing Center Director, Dr. Maggie Herb, will begin on June 15.