This year, under the direction of the new director Dana
Lynn Driscoll, one focus of the Kathleen Jones White Writing Center is
retention-oriented tutoring. In addition to the long-standing support for
writers of all levels and across all disciplines that our writing center
provides, our retention initiative includes the development of new support
materials, help sheets, and workshops to help developmental and underprepared
writers succeed.
Starting in fall 2019, the Jones White Writing Center has been
offering regular professional development to our tutors to help them tutor with
retention in mind. This has included additional
training for tutors about how to work with and support underprepared writers,
helping new students developing a sense of belonging, encouraging help-seeking
behavior, supporting writing processes through offering tools and strategies, and
much more. This training will continue
into our Spring 2020 term.
The Kathleen Jones White Writing Center conducts over 4,000 tutorials a year for
students of all majors and levels. These tutorials not only help writers, but
also retain students and contribute to student success. Writing center visits affect learning and retention. Specifically, writing center visits are
tied to:
- Higher student
retention (Bell and Frost, 2012; Reason, 2009)
- Higher grades and
better course performance (Sailor, 2016)
- Increased
self-efficacy (Williams and Tataku, 2011)
- Reduction of
procrastination (Fritzsche,
Young, and Hickson, 2003).
- Intellectual,
social, and emotional development (Tinto, 2012)
The Writing Center hopes to see many new—and returning—students
at the Jones White Writing Center for tutoring, workshops, and more this term!
References
- Bell, D. C., & Frost, A. (2012).
Critical inquiry and writing centers: A methodology of assessment. The Learning Assistance Review, 17(1),
15-26.
- Fritzsche, B. A., Young, B. R., &
Hickson, K. C. (2003). Individual differences in academic procrastination
tendency and writing success. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(7),
1549-1557.
- Griswold, G. (2003, Dec.). Writing
centers: The student retention connection. Academic
Exchange Quarterly.
- Reason, R. D. (2009). An examination of
persistence research through the lens of a comprehensive conceptual framework. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6),
659-682.
- Salem, Lori.
"Decisions... Decisions: Who Chooses to Use the Writing Center?." The
Writing Center Journal (2016): 147-171.
- Tinto, V. (2012). Completing college: Rethinking institutional action. Chicago,
IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Williams, J. D., & Takaku, S. (2011).
Help seeking, self-efficacy, and writing performance among college students.
Journal of Writing Research, 3(1), 1-18.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2011.03.01.1