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The Writing Centers provide tutoring for students enrolled in Writing
Program classes. There are three Writing Centers: the Livingston Writing
Center, located in the B-wing of Lucy Stone Hall; the Douglass/Cook Writing
Center, located at 135 George Street; and the Plangere Writing Center,
located on the third floor of Murray Hall. Tutoring sessions are scheduled
for one eighty-minute class period per week for at least five weeks, and
are available free of charge. Students are tutored in the full range of
expository writing, from basic composition to advanced research, business,
and scientific writing courses. The Writing Centers offer morning, afternoon,
and evening sessions to ensure access for University College and other
working students.
Though separated by campus, the Writing Centers are united by a common
philosophy, called minimalist tutoring. Minimalist tutoring strengthens
reading and writing skills by asking students to practice under the supervision
of a more experienced writer, who acts as a coach rather than an editor.
During each tutoring session, students engage in a series of tasks related
to their latest course assignment. While tutors shape these tasks and
advise students in the midst of them, it is the students who read, write,
and revise. Because tutoring happens at a regularly-scheduled time and
place over the course of many weeks, tutor and student reinforce new writing
strategies while they navigate the challenges of college-level composition.
In this way, minimalist tutoring provides better habits of writing to
take into other classrooms and the larger world.
This method requires a highly-trained staff, and Writing Center tutors
undergo a rigorous selection and training process overseen by Assistant
Directors of the Writing Program. Tutors are drawn from a pool of applicants
who may be advanced undergraduates, graduate-level Teaching Assistants,
or teachers from diverse departments, including English, Comparative Literature,
History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Women's Studies. Once selected,
tutors are schooled in the techniques of minimalist tutoring, augmented
later by special instruction in areas such as English as a Second Language
(ESL), grammar skills, remediation, and advanced research. In cases where
more help is needed, students and tutors may consult the Writing Center
Directors, who maintain an open-door policy throughout the course of the
semester.
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