The Annual Beren Writing Center Report, reviewing the Writing Center’s progress for the 2011-2012 academic year, was released this July.
The past year was arguably the most successful in the history of the Beren Writing Center. In the fall, students were greeted with a welcome surprise, finding the Writing Center housed in new, expanded quarters in room 714 in the 215 Lexington Avenue building. The space was later decorated with inspiring quotes about writing from currently enrolled students, lending the BWC a homey feel and creating a sense of individuality and student involvement.
With the addition of two new staff members – ESL tutor Emily Long and Writing Instructor Lauren Burstein – the BWC was able to better serve both its student visitors and student tutors. Emily Long led an informative session, inviting tutors to work with her to learn how to maximize their time during tutoring sessions with non-native English speakers and support these students in their writing development. “The hiring of dedicated tutor Emily Long,” Efthymiou notes, “resulted in the BWC having seen every incoming international student last semester.” In a series of meetings, Lauren Burstein addressed the best way to help students transition into adopting more academic writing styles.
As BWC director Andrea Efthymiou explains, “operating with a staff of 20 faculty and peer tutors contributed to our success,” generating an unusually high number of student visitors. While the national average sees writing centers serving anywhere between 10% and 15% of enrolled students, the BWC welcomed an unprecedented 23% of the Stern student body in the fall semester and 19% in the spring. All the student visitors were asked to complete an evaluation following each tutoring session; a review of these surveys revealed that 97% of the visitors were “satisfied” with their tutoring sessions.
In previous years, students wishing to visit the BWC often were relegated to a waitlist – in fact, 400% of available appointments during 2010-2011 were waitlisted – but the 2011-2012 year saw a tremendous decrease in waitlisting. Extensive administrative re-organization allowed for a mere 40% rate of waitlisting and reduced the previously overwhelming amount of complaints regarding lack of available appointments to zero. Writing instructor Burstein carefully tracked the waitlist throughout the year, offering updates comparing the current waitlist rates to those of the previous year.
While internal staff development and facilitation helped foster increased sensitivity, professionalism, and success amongst the peer tutors and faculty, outreach efforts undertaken by the BWC continued. During both the fall and spring orientations, BWC staff members addressed new students and held workshops, introducing students to college writing. Visits to each of the English 1100 (Composition) sections helped increase awareness among students of the resources offered by the BWC.
In a new outreach initiative, the BWC ran a pilot program in collaboration with the Office of University Housing and Residence Life, offering dorm tutoring on a drop-in basis on Sunday evenings. The program was successful and will be continuing into the 2012-2013 academic year. The BWC, working with the Career Development Center, offered a two-workshop series for students applying to graduate school, and joined Professor Deena Rabinovich and the students in the Legacy Heritage Program for an individualized session.
Despite a tremendous increase in clients, the BWC’s satisfaction rates are higher than ever with waitlisting at an all-time low. This year, the BWC is committed to extending its social media reach, via its website and Twitter feed, making schedule changes and announcements easily accessible to the student body. Lizzy Bentley, a Stern graduate and past tutor, will be the Writing Instructor for the 2012-13 academic year. Efthymiou has already begun working with peer tutors Hannah Rozenblat and Devorah Snow to enhance and update tutoring hiring and training materials. Further innovation and development is sure to allow the BWC to continue helping students cultivate their writing skills and achieve academic potential.