The English department is starting a writing center, a new service designed to help students with writing assignments.
English department head Rich Raymond, who started the writing center, said students can find help at the center with papers on any subject. “The writing center is a place to talk about writing and listen to the concerns of the students such as content and organization,” Raymond said. “The graduates are at the center as writing coaches or guides, not proofreaders.”
The center is located at Lee Hall, Room 200.
Five graduate students trained by Raymond have been selected to work at the center.
“Dr. Raymond asked the five of us to train for the program last semester,” said Edmond Dechert, an English graduate student.
The center has 10 new computers equipped with Microsoft Office XP.
The graduate students meet weekly with Raymond to discuss techniques and strategies for tutoring students in all areas. They also read instructional books to develop skills necessary for the center.
“It isn’t enough just to read the books, we put the ideas into practice by discussing each other’s papers, not grading,” said Leah Bowers, a graduate assistant who is training inside and outside the writing center. Both Bowers and Raymond stressed the “no grading” policy.
“One of our core principles is ‘everybody’s a writer,'” Bowers added.
Raymond developed a similar program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The writing center is open Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.; Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m.; and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon only.