Hi again, Janice.
I'm sorry about my multi-day silence; I got swallowed up by another project which is now,
for the moment, out of my hands.
A Web site on Canadian writing centres and/or an Inkshed article on same would be
invaluable to those of us who work in such places (and perhaps to others, as well). I fully
recall, now, the brief email dialogue I had with Margaret Procter on this subject last year...
It occurred in the spring, though, when I suppose many interested individuals were closing shop
for the summer. In any event, Margaret proposed on the CASLL listserv some Writing Centre
topics worthy of exploration, I added some topics to that list - and that's as far as things
ever got. And I'm wondering whether the same thing might happen now, and for the same reason
(our Writing Centre is open all summer, but perhaps the majority are closed until autumn?) - or
because, as Margaret has suggested, a number of Canadian writing centres may be insufficiently
funded to have full Internet access...
What I'm suggesting, I guess, is that autumn might be a more fruitful time for obtaining
people's attention (of course, it's also the busiest time of year for most of us, which I'm
suspecting is why you're attempting to start the survey now...). But in any event, here's some
information on our centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
We have a very small but growing website (that's one of our major projects this summer),
which can be reached at <http://www.mun.ca/writingcentre>. I'm the contact person, and my phone
number is (709) 737-3168. Our writing centre is a drop-in facility that serves all
undergraduate and graduate students at Memorial (total student population of almost 16,000,
with schools/faculties of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Nursing, Business, Music,
Education, Social Work, etc.) The centre is staffed with undergraduate peer tutors - up to 19
at our busiest times, and as few as 6 over the summer; staff training is currently via
workshops and on-the-job, only, although developing a credit course on peer tutoring/writing
pedagogy is one of my fondest dreams...
We deliver individual tutorials, provide faculty support, and design and deliver in-class
presentations at student or faculty request. These presentations are in growing demand, and
consume an increasing amount of our time and other resources. We're also preparing to deliver
online tutoring, as a result of numerous requests to serve the fast-growing distance education
population. And we also attempt to serve as a liaison between the university and the provincial
school system in discussing issues related to the preparedness of high school graduates for the
reading and writing demands of post-secondary education.
Janice, I'm afraid that I can't volunteer to co-write an article with you right now; I have
no assistance other than my undergraduate tutors, and my responsibilities seem to be
mushrooming daily. But if I can help you to collect this kind of information from other writing
centre directors, or in any other way assist you in developing a Canadian forum for discussing
writing centre issues, please let me know and I'll do whatever I can. By the way - are you
still planning to post something to the Canadian Writing Centre listserv? It certainly is
inactive - it often makes me wonder in a lonely kind of way whether there's anybody out
there...or whether we're all just too busy at our own centres to become a part of any larger
community...
Ginny Ryan
Writing Centre Director
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Janice Freeman wrote:
> Hi everyone!
>
> Over a year ago, I mentioned to the CASLL list members that I was trying to compile
> information about Canadian Writing Centres (broadly defined) with the goal of putting
> together a web page. Well.... I didn't get very far then, but I have a student who is keen
> to help me with it this summer, so I'm trying again.
>
> So if you have a place on your campus where students can go for tutorial support in writing
> (and other subjects), either peer or professional tutoring, can you please give me the
> following information:
>
> 1) web address, if available
> 2) contact information, including phone #
> 3) services/resources provided
> 4) any other relevant info/resources that I should know about
> [I'll get more specific information from individuals rather than clutter up the list.]
>
> The CAW has a web site, with a small OWL. You can have a look at it, although we're just in
> the midst of updating it this summer: http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~caw/
>
> I'll keep you up to date as the work progresses.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Janice Freeman
> Tutoring Coordinator
> Centre for Academic Writing
> University of Winnipeg
>
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To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
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For the list archives and information about the organization,
the annual conference, and publications, go to the Inkshed Web site at
http://www.StThomasU.ca/inkshed/
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