The Writing Center vs. the Dorm: One Tutor's Opinion by Emilia Autenzio

What is the difference between coming to the writing center for a conference on a paper and having a friend look over the paper in the dorm? The question leads to the ultimate goal of the writing center, which is not simply to help a student improve a specific writing assignment but to help the student improve as a writer. Tutors expect a writing conference to be educational for the student. If the writer learns one important writing concept and earns a C on the paper, the conference will still have been a success. Tutors are more like teachers than editors: they try to provide clear explanations but do not want to put their own ideas in a paper or respond to every error. Tutors operate within a challenging set of guidelines:

They are supposed to give advice, but they are not supposed to be too directive. They are supposed to make suggestions, but they are not to do the students' work for them. They are supposed to answer questions about written texts, but they must be careful about how they answer those questions and how specific their advice, examples, and illustrations might be. (Pemberton 12)

In the writing center, tutors use questioning and listening strategies that allow students to develop their own ideas. For example, if a writer asserts that John Wyclif was not the Morning Star of the Reformation, I may ask the student to explain that assertion. I may go further and ask what historical evidence supports this view or whether there is another individual more deserving of the title than Wyclif. While tutors focus initially on global concerns, they are also equipped to provide help with grammar and style. Tutors are familiar with correct grammar usage since most tutors have passed a course in advanced grammar. The writing center has punctuation pattern sheets and numerous handbooks to show students examples of APA style or correct pronoun agreement.

Even though the recent arrival of "living-learning" venues has increased academic discussion in residence halls, the student dorm is not strictly an educational environment. Pop in to any residence hall on a Friday night, and you will see what I mean. I have seen writers hand papers to other students, usually with the expectation that the paper itself will be improved. The emphasis is removed from education and placed on correction with the chance that the correction itself may be incorrect. In addition, the typical student may not be aware of the line between responding as a reader and providing too much help, a line which tutors discuss in training sessions.

Although collaboration and the exchange of ideas between peers in residence halls is an important part of students' academic experience, the writing center exists as a valuable tool for the PC writer that cannot be matched by the dorm.

Pemberton, Michael A. "Writing Center Ethics: Student Agendas and Expectations for Writing Center Conferences (Part II)." Writing Lab Newsletter 22.7 (March 1998): 12-13.