Practices & procedures
Practices & procedures
Collaboration. In conferences, consultants and clients set goals collaboratively and then work together, through dialogue, to achieve them. Writing center staff also collaborate on many tasks, both in and outside of conferences. Staff should ask for assistance from other writing center staff when needed, and should also offer assistance to other staff members when requested.
Compassion and respect. Regardless of racial and cultural identity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religious background or belief, marital status, family structure, educational background, class status, age, and ability, everyone is welcome at the University Writing Center. We respect and value our consultants’ and clients’ lived experiences, and we believe a diversity of identities and perspectives enriches our work lives and enhances our ability to collaborate with writers.
Adaptability and flexibility. In our conferences and in our workplace, we accommodate everyone to the best of our ability. We believe in tailoring our approach to best suit the needs of the writers we assist.
Self-direction and initiative. The writing center functions best when everyone takes full responsibility for their work. In addition to meeting with clients, writing center staff are expected to engage daily with assigned support projects as well as ongoing professional development that supports the mission of the center.
treat their writing and ideas with respect
work collaboratively toward the common goal of improving their project
work without judgment or evaluation of the text
ask questions and provide feedback on the client’s project
set an agenda that responds to the needs of the writer within the time available
allow the client to control the direction of the session
have interesting, engaging conversations about the project
offer practical advice and suggestions that will help writers improve both the individual document and client’s writing as a whole
engage with an individual’s writing process as well as the writer’s text.
Consultants should approach each session with the underlying assumption that writing is a process with identifiable stages (invention, drafting, revision, editing). We work with writers to help them at any stage of this process. Higher-order concerns (such as discovering a focus, using the appropriate tone of voice, finding the best organization and structure, and developing ideas) precede other lower-order concerns (such as sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, usage). While each step of the process has a place in the consulting session, you should be aware of where the client is in that process so that you can help them develop that step and move beyond it.
Writing center workers have ethical responsibilities. We cannot discuss our reservations about a particular instructor or assignment in our sessions, nor can we predict grades. Also, we must respect the confidentiality of our consultations by not discussing them outside the writing center with other students or friends. This includes posting about sessions on social media.
Since writers need supportive, sympathetic readers, it is important that consultants establish and maintain rapport with writers who come to use our services. We should always be courteous to them and engaged in their work. Find something concrete about the writing to compliment, and ask lots of questions about the writing and assignment.
Writers must retain authority over their texts and make final decisions about changes to their texts. For this reason, consultants should avoid writing on clients’ papers or typing on their computers.
The writing center is an instructional service, not an editing service, and our goal for our sessions is improvement, not perfection. Producing better writers--not producing perfect papers--should be the focus of the session. If a writer wants to hire an editor, put them in touch with Beth, who keeps a list of professional editors for referral.
Smile, make eye contact, and speak clearly. Take time to get acquainted and make the writer feel welcome and comfortable.
Beginning of Session
When assigned a client, the priority is to get into the session as quickly as possible.
Greet your client. Introduce yourself, ask your client their name, ask if this is their first time at the writing center. If it is an online session, ask about their access and comfort level with Zoom and address any technology concerns before moving forward.
If this is the client’s first visit to the writing center, take time to explain what the writer can expect (e.g., consultant or client reads paper aloud, writer makes changes to paper, appointments are limited to 45 minutes.)
Ask when the project is due and what they want to work on today.
After finding out why the writer has come for a consultation, ask if anything in particular is giving them trouble and how you can help. Ask to see the client’s assignment and review it with them. Listen carefully to what they say, and summarize your understanding of the task at hand. You and the writer should set the agenda collaboratively before reading their draft.
Middle of Session
Read the paper aloud, or have the writer read the paper aloud. If it’s not too long (under 6 pages), read it the whole way through first, before discussing it. As you listen or read, make notes about places you want to return to on a second reading.
First discuss any higher-order concerns (e.g., organization, development of ideas, use of sources or data, how the draft does or doesn’t yet meet the assignment requirements).
After discussing higher-order concerns, read through the draft a second time, stopping to discuss lower-order concerns (word choice, punctuation, citations, etc.) and providing instruction where needed.
Take notes throughout the session. Details about questions or issues that you addressed will help as you complete your session logs.
Use directive and non-directive tutoring strategies as needed. When feasible, rather than tell a writer what to do with a draft, try asking questions to lead them to discover for themselves what to do with their writing. (Where is your thesis statement? Do you think this is the main idea of this entire paper?). Sometimes, however, direct instruction is appropriate, such as explaining when to use a semicolon or how to cite a source properly in APA; use your judgment to determine when to be more or less directive in your sessions.
Use your resources: Handouts from our website and your electronic writing handbook (A Writer’s Reference) are useful tools when working in sessions.
Model for writers how to use resources and look up answers. Many writers come to us with questions about documentation, grammar, and punctuation. Show them where to find answers to these questions in the handbook, on our website, or elsewhere online.
Ask questions when you have them. The writing center staff works collaboratively and shares knowledge about the work of consulting with writers. Do not hesitate to ask the desk assistant or supervisor on duty when you have a question. Please do not guess the answer or send a client away if you don’t know something.
End of Session
Begin wrapping up the session after ~ 40 minutes. If it seems like you will not be finished with everything the client wants to do in 45 minutes, let them know after thirty-five minutes that you only have a few minutes and ask them what they want to focus on in the time left.
Involve your client in completing the session log. The session log will be sent to the client as a way for them to remember what was worked on during their session. Summarize what was discussed in the session and what the client plans to do next. Save the report when you are finished.
Ask the client if they want to make another appointment before they leave.
Students do not need to register for TracCloud. They already have an account using their Appstate credentials. Non-Student clients need Julie or Hannah to create an account for them. The form is linked on our website. Non-student clients' credentials are listed in a Google Sheet.
Clients can schedule their own appointments from anywhere by logging into TracCloud. We also have a link on our website for them to do it from there. Clients can also call, email, or send a message through Google Hangouts and ask you to schedule an appointment for them.
Desk assistants have to be vigilant about checking appointment requests and moving the appointment to the appropriate consultant.
If a student wants to work with a particular consultant, once the appointment is made, the Desk Assistant will move the appointment to the appropriate consultant.
To make an appointment, click on the time desired and type in the client’s first and last name and press enter. Then click on the name, and an appointment window will open.
In the appointment window, you should enter the subject, the reason for the visit, whether the appointment is online or in-person, and any notes the client may have. Then click save.
The writing center Gmail will receive an email any time an appointment has been made.
Assigning Appointments
To assign an appointment to a consultant, simply drag the appointment to the consultant's schedule.
You should then delete the appointment time under the Appointment schedule so that no other appointments can be made in that time slot.
Choose "Delete One" when prompted so that you do not delete that hour for the rest of the semester.
A review appointment may be appropriate when a client is working on something too long or involved to be properly addressed in a single 45 minute session. The review appointment means that the consultant has access to the project for an hour prior to the session to review the work and prioritize the time in the following face- to-face meeting. A review appointment can only occur after a client has met with the consultant for a regular appointment to discuss the goals of the project and made a plan to obtain the document in time for the review appointment.
Making a Review Appointment
Only make review appointments by the request of a consultant or an administrator. If you receive a request via email from a client, direct it to Beth or Julie.
Review appointments should be created in the soonest available appointment slot before the client’s appointment is supposed to begin
Example: If Sarah works from 2-5 on Monday and has an appointment on Tuesday at 9am that needs a review appointment, the review appointment should be scheduled for Monday from 4-5pm.
To make a review appointment, simply schedule an appointment using the review appointment account in the time slot before the appointment scheduled with the client.
The review appointment should be marked as attended once the scheduled time arrives
Make sure that the consultant has access to the paper before the review session begins. You can ask the consultant if they do when you create the appointment. If they do not, email the client to ask for them to send you a copy of the paper
How do I know who is up next?
The rotation of consultants is determined by several factors:
Who has a scheduled appointment
Length of their shift
Who leaves first in the day
Ideally, someone who gets off earliest will be the first consultant up for a session.
This also depends on whether they have a scheduled appointment. If they have an appointment scheduled, then the next consultant who leaves earliest will be up for a session.
Once everyone has had an appointment, the rotation process restarts and sessions are based on who is open next.
Example Scenarios
John and Anna both start their shifts at 9 am. John leaves at 12 pm, and Anna leaves at 2 pm. John would be the first person in the rotation.
John and Anna both start their shifts at 9 am, and they both leave at 12 pm. John has an appointment scheduled at 10 am, so Anna would be first in the rotation.
Anna got out of an appointment at 1:50 pm, and John got out of an appointment at 12 pm. John should be next in the rotation.
John and Anna got out of their appointments around the same time, but John’s appointment was 50 minutes and Anna’s was 20 minutes. Anna should be next in the rotation.
The desk assistant is responsible for all phone calls at the front desk. A high level of professionalism is expected.
You should answer the phone promptly. Answer the phone using the following statement: “University Writing Center, this is (YOUR NAME), how can I help you?”
Communications that show up in our google chat can come from the (828)476-8644 number. These might be quick questions from clients.
If there is a writing question, ask a consultant or administrator who is not in a session to help answer the question.
If it is about hours, location, time, or appointments, answer those as well as you can. Never hesitate to ask when you are unsure or direct someone toward Beth or Julie if you are unable to answer the question.
Conversations about writing that persist beyond a few quick exchanges might need to become appointments.
Our group conference room makes it possible for some group members to attend in-person while others attend remotely. It is the desk worker’s responsibility to ensure students understand our process for group sessions. If the conference room is available, the room needs to be reserved if possible. Julie has access to scheduling privileges for the conference room. If a group session is scheduled in advance, you should send an email to the person who made the appointment to make sure they understand that every member of the group must be at the session. There are no exceptions to this rule.
If there is a request for a group appointment, the desk should contact the client to obtain the number of individuals in the group and the names of the individuals in the group.
We currently have a “Do Not Schedule List’ in our Google Keep app. This list is also available once you login to the Writing Center email account in the Google Keep Notes section. This list has people who, for one reason or another, cannot work with certain consultants. Desk workers should try to familiarize themselves with the names on the list just in case the person comes in for a session.
For example, there are men on this list that cannot work with female consultants. If one of these individuals comes in for a session and no men are available, they should be assigned to a professional consultant. If there is no one available to work with them, you must explain there is no consultant available at this time.
If you feel like you would like to place someone on that list for any reason, let an administrator know as soon as possible. We are on your side and in order to protect you, we need to be in possession of the facts.
Undergraduates, graduate students and non-student temporary staff are paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last working day of each month. You are responsible for completing the payroll process during each pay period to ensure you are paid on time. Reminders will be sent out regularly with detailed instructions. The process is different for hourly staff, contract staff, and professional staff. You should read the section below that you identify with to learn the steps for completing the payroll process accurately.
You are also responsible for completing an hourly timesheet each pay period. Timesheets can be found in your mailbox. You should complete this form by entering in the information that is requested. Details will be given to you in the reminder that Hannah sends out.
Payroll for Consultants and Desk Assistants
Record the professional development hour you are paid for each week.
Payroll for Undergraduate Students and Non-Student Hourly Staff
You will need to enter the hours you have worked each pay period into an electronic time sheet on Appalnet Self Service. You can access Appalnet Self Service by logging into your account at appalnet.appstate.edu and clicking on the “Employee” tab, selecting “Time Sheet,” and then choosing the correct position and pay period dates. You will then enter the hours you have worked. Your hourly timesheet should match the number of hours you enter on Appalnet Self Service. Directions with step-by-step instructions are available from Hannah, and you should speak to her about any payroll questions or concerns.