University of San Diego

by Presley Richardson, Writing Consultant

Introduction

Many similarities exist between their program and the one at the University of Richmond.

USD’s center in particular is housed online under the Department of English. They describe their mission as having “every person who receives a consultation to gain confidence and notable improvements in their ability to write, regardless of the subject material or ‘style’ of writing required. Our staff members’ goal is not to merely ‘edit’ students’ work; rather, we seek to engage in a one-on-one collaboration and exchange of ideas."

I think this addresses and disputes the biggest misconception with writing centers -- they are not editing factories. Instead, they are an extremely valuable tool to help writers gain distance from their writing in order to recognize and improve upon their weaknesses. The University of San Diego’s writing center seems to be on the same track as Richmond’s, which leads me to believe it could be a good model to explore possible improvements for our own program.

Training

Like Richmond’s program, the Writing Center at the University of San Diego employs undergraduate students as tutors. In order to become a tutor, a student must first be recommended by one of their professors. Students can ask their professors to nominate them if they wish, but the official recommendation must come from a member of the faculty.

Before becoming a paid tutor, the student must then attend an information session about the center, unlike a semester-long course here. Prospective tutors must also schedule and attend a formal interview. No detailed information was available regarding the contents of the information session.

This seemed to be the biggest divergence from our program, as tutors at the University of Richmond go through much longer training. Potential tutors at Richmond must enroll in the semester long Writing Center Tutor course.

Logistics

As mentioned before, the University of San Diego Writing Center employs undergraduate students as their primary tutors. In the fall term of 2016 , they had twenty-nine student consultants working at the center. In addition to this, the center also employs two graduate assistants who offer “Graduate Only” hours each week. They also employ two Writing Center coordinators, as well as a Writing Center director. A current list can be found here.

The hours posted for the schedule are Monday through Thursday from 9am to 7pm with a one hour break from 1-2pm on Thursday. As well as hours from 9am to 2pm on Friday. Compared to the University of Richmond, it seems as though the Writing Center at San Diego has more hours overall, although they do not offer weekend hours. I think providing weekend hours for students, even if just by appointment only, would be extremely helpful as most students do a bulk of their work over the weekend.

What To Expect From A Session

Any student can expect to spend around forty-five minutes in a session with their writing consultant. Each appointment at the center starts on the hour and can be cut short, but they are not permitted to run over. These appointments are free to students and can be reserved through a private, online portal. The writing center also offers 30-minute walk-in hours on a first-come, first-served basis, which occur several times per week. It is important to note that this Writing Center does provide limited online consultations, which is a new practice for them. I would be interested to see more about the effectiveness of these kinds of meetings.

Writers are asked to bring in their draft, at whatever stage of writing it is in, the assignment prompt, as well as any texts being referenced in the essay. As for the appointment itself, the Writing Center’s website says:

We work with students writing in any academic discipline at any stage of the writing process. We can aid you in brainstorming, understanding a text, developing and focusing ideas, organizing information, refining and expanding ideas, and polishing grammar and punctuation. We believe in collaboration, discussion, and process-oriented revision.

Therefore, consultant appointments at the University of San Diego can be utilized at any stage of the writing process, whether it be coming up with a thesis statement or having an extra set of eyes read over a final draft. I really appreciated seeing this message on their website, as I think many students get hung up on the idea that their writing needs to be at a certain stage before seeking help.

As with the University of Richmond’s program, the University of San Diego provides an FAQ list that includes the role of editing in their center. They say that “instead we work collaboratively with students, asking questions and having focused conversations. Our goal is to help you become a more versatile and confident writer”. Although these consultants, I assume, do a few editing tweaks to certain papers, their focuses are more fundamental. This approach allows writers to improve upon their writing foundation, producing better future work on their own.

Location and Other Academic Services

The Writing Center in located on the first floor of Founders Hall on the University of San Diego campus. The first floor also houses the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences office, as well as some other academic programs such as the Center for Creative Writing. The second floor of this building is a residence hall. Around this building are many other academic buildings, the Administration Center, as well as some places to purchase food. In fact, there is even a bistro inside the building where the Writing Center is housed. This central location makes it very easy for students to take advantage of the center at their convenience.

In addition to the Writing Center, Founders Hall houses a place called The Logic Center. This center is described as an informal, drop-in center for students who need extra help in completing their assignments or preparing for their exams”. Located on the same webpage as the links for the Writing Center and Logic Center are links that lead to tutoring of almost all fields of study.

There are several other centers around campus. It is unclear if the university has any plans to locate them together at some point, as we plan to do here.

Provided Resources and Required Courses

The USD Writing Center and its website provide many resources for students for self-help with their writing. The the most substantial type of resource is that of different types of citations including references for APA and MLA, and Guides for Chicago and Turabian Documentation Style. In addition to these, the center also provides a list and descriptions of common grammatical errors, help with thesis statements, and poetry reading tips, to name a few.

The core curriculum at the University of San Diego requires that all students complete a First Year Writing course or demonstrate their abilities by passing a composition exam. After this, they must complete an Advanced Writing course which focuses on writing as a process.

These courses are offered by many different departments so that students can take one in their field of study. I imagine both these courses provide ample opportunity for visits to the Writing Center, especially the first year course. I would not be surprised if some professors made visiting the Writing Center a requirement for their first years to better prepare them for the Advanced Writing course.