Hi Margaret,
I'm wondering if a search in the WPA archives might turn up a thread on
benchmarks for Writing Centres - albeit US. It's such an active list and
people send out lots of helpful stuff.
Wendy
In case it's helpful - this is the info I found on how to access...
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Wendy Strachan, PhD
Director, Centre for Writing-Intensive Learning
Faculty of Arts
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Office: AQ 6205
Tel: 604-291-3122
Fax: 604-623-3403
Email: [log in to unmask]
Home tel: 604-623-3438
-----Original Message-----
From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Margaret Procter
Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 7:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Measuring the worth of writing centres
Colleagues:
Can you help me find established benchmarks and other measures of best
practice for writing centres and writing courses? I'm being asked to come
up with these for the Arts and Science component in the new U of T planning
and budget cycle. This recurrent exercise could be a good opportunity for
the 14 or so writing centres here and the increasing number of writing
courses to show administrators how important and successful we are. But in
budget-cutting Ontario we also have to see it as one more challenge to
defend our existence.
I am aware of Jim Bell's methods for program evaluation (he outlines them
in Inkshed 14.7, available at
http://www.stthomasu.ca/inkshed/dec96.htm#subtitle3), which depend on
intensive interviewing of students. Has anyone found other ways of
gathering "hard" data -- maybe about retention rates? Are there other
measures of student success related to writing-centre use that are both
valid and vivid? We will certainly provide testimonials from students and
fellow faculty, but hope we can also speak some of the administrative
language of numbers.
Thanks,
Margaret.
--
(Dr.) Margaret Procter
University of Toronto
Coordinator, Writing Support
15 King's College Circle
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7
(416) 978-8109; FAX (416) 971-2027
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing
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For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
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