I think Theresa has described the major components that you would need
to account for in any layout:
reception area, reference area, tutoring spaces/tables, office for the
director.
I'd reinforce the importance of a water cooler/kettle area for tutors
to get a cup of tea between sessions; if budgets allow, it would be
nice to extend this to the students who come by for tutoring. This
only needs to be about 3 feet along a wall somewhere.
I'd also like to emphasize the attention to making the space inviting--
Theresa's done it with plants and couches; we added some posters as
well. We also added a couch for students who arrive early or are
hoping for a drop-in session to open up. So you'll want to account for
the ambience of the space in your layout designs--perhaps by
requesting glass walls on the front wall to allow light to pass into
the interior.
One thing to consider--a small cubicle/office for online tutoring
sessions. When we have had 7 sessions going on at once in our space
the noise was quite pronounced, but even a couple of sessions make it
hard for a tutor working online with a client to screen out background
noise.
Roger Graves
Director, WAC and Acting Director, Centre for Writers
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ualberta.ca/~graves1/index.html
On Nov 29, 2008, at 6:19 AM, Scott Pound wrote:
> Dear Theresa,
>
> Thanks so much for this. It's very helpful to me.
>
> sp
>
> On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 12:23 PM, Dr. Theresa Hyland
> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> I work at Huron University College which is a small liberal arts
>> college
>> attached to the University of Western Ontario. After having put up
>> with a
>> "shared space' which was sometimes a writing centre and at other
>> times a
>> conference meeting room , we have just moved into a new dedicated
>> Writing
>> Skills Centre space. It is wonderful! We now have an administrative
>> assistant who is available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day.
>> She keeps
>> track of our appointments and our waiting list. My office is a
>> windowed
>> room at the back of the writing centre space. These windows have
>> blinds
>> which can be closed if I need privacy. In the Writing Centre, we
>> have
>> windows all along one wall, which we have filled with flowering
>> plants. We
>> have two round tables for student appointments, which are divided
>> with a
>> space divider, and a waiting area with two couches. We also have
>> an area
>> where students and tutors can sit at our two PC's and work on
>> their essays
>> or go online to check reference materials. Finally, we have
>> bookshelves
>> filled with reference books and handouts, and a table with coffee/
>> tea going
>> all the time. The results? Our tutors are happy, and our writing
>> centre
>> appointments are almost always completely booked. While we were
>> always
>> pretty busy before, there were times of the year when the tutors
>> and I were
>> pretty lonely. This was partly because our Writing Centre was a
>> moveable
>> feast, partly because the room was not built to house a writing
>> centre and
>> partly because it was often filled with equipment that had nothing
>> to do
>> with writing, but also because we often didn't have anyone around
>> to book
>> appointments for us. Now, students who drop into the centre
>> always have
>> someone to greet them (me when the other tutors are gone).
>> Moreover, they
>> just have to pop next door to make an appointment.
>>
>> So, I would add some things to Emmy's list of requirements: (1)
>> make sure
>> that you have some administrative support close by to make
>> appointments for
>> you (2) Make sure you do plan for growth as Emmy says. The only
>> thing that
>> I would change if I could, is to have three round tables for
>> appointments
>> instead of two --- I often have to take appointments in my office
>> because we
>> are so crowded out in the Writing Centre space! If you build it
>> ----- they
>> will come, and if you build it right ----- they will come in
>> droves!!!!
>> Theresa Hyland.
>>
>> Scott Pound wrote:
>>
>>> Hello List Members,
>>>
>>> I'm conducting research for a proposed writing centre at Lakehead
>>> University
>>> and am eager to hear from writing centre professionals who have
>>> info/ideas
>>> about the optimal spatial layout for writing centres. It's a topic
>>> that
>>> doesn't come up a lot in the literature.
>>>
>>> The writing centre at Lakehead will be located on the first floor
>>> of the
>>> main library, possibly (probably) within a Learning Commons (that
>>> option
>>> is
>>> currently being studied). Enrolment at Lakehead is close to 7000.
>>>
>>> I'll be considering everything from optimal square footage,
>>> floorplan,
>>> room
>>> shape, types and shape of tables, relationship to larger spaces
>>> (such as a
>>> learning commons), and anything else that seems relevant.
>>>
>>> Scholarly leads on the topic are most welcome too.
>>>
>>> Many thanks in advance.
>>> Scott
>>>
>>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Scott Pound
> Associate Professor
> Department of English
> Lakehead University
> 955 Oliver Road
> Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1
> 807-343-8298
> [log in to unmask]
>
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>
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