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I think that like Roberta I want to take you to task Christine, but for the small word "merely". >As writing centre advisors we do seem to be tethered to the generic conventions > of the > disciplines and courses for which the student is writing. That would seem > to be the institutional rationale for writing centres; and that, I think, is > the huge draw back of *substituting* writing instruction by English > professors and in English departments with elaborate writing centers that > _merely_ serve other disciplines. It's not a bad thing; it's just > insufficient. I would argue first that there is nothing "mere" about entering into the discourse of disciplines. This seems excellent early fodder for next year's Canadian Caucus at the 4Cs, but the general assumption in Canada seems to me to be that English departments are not competent to teach composition outside of the English department's very limited constraints (about literature, notions of the good essay, etc). I don't feel like I'm substituting anything in Engineering. It is not a matter of Engineering covering for the failure of English to offer enough composition courses. Rather my job exists because _Engineers_ recognize the important of communication within their discipline. Unlike the advanced composition course you posit, I don't have to fabricate advertising, or grant proposals because there is a real discourse, the discourse of a discipline, just waiting to be tapped. At the same time, I bring to bear exactly the kind of creativity that you suggest, so I am not in total disagreement. I do think, however, that the best way to teach students to value the "professional writing tasks they will be asked to perform beyond the academy" is to begin to have them write about relevant issues within it. As a Language across the Curriculum Coordinator, I have the opportunity to shape assignments to fulfill that goal and to make the writing centre a vital part of the teaching process. I know that in an hour of writing conference, I can teach a student more than a comp course can. (I've had students say so). It's not some second-rate substitute to account for the weakness of the Canadian system, it is a superb pedagogical strategy supported consistently by research (mostly done by people who teach comp courses). Rob Irish