“There is no better place on campus than the Writing Center,” states current director Dr. Mike Mattison. Since it was established in 1980, the Writing Center (previously the Writer’s Workshop) has provided students with a resource to discuss all stages of their writing process. Writers can come to the Center for help with initial brainstorming or in the final stages of a thesis paper — the Writing Center is there for every student at almost all hours of the day.

The Writing Center’s “active learning” approach allows students to propel the conversation in whatever direction they see as most beneficial, while student advisors serve the role of the “reader” for the writer. Dr. Mattison finds his greatest joy from the conversations that occur within the Writing Center’s walls between writer and advisor. “When the Center is full, with writers and advisors talking at each table, I will often go and stand in the middle of the room and let those conversations swirl about me. You can hear the questions and the comments—Tell me more about this idea. What are you working on today? What’s most important to you about this section?—and it is those exchanges that are at the heart of what we do.”

The Writing Center has certainly evolved from its first years in Shouvlin. It currently resides in Hollenbeck Hall and hopes to continue to grow into the future. Staying current on writing center theory is extremely important to not only Dr. Mattison, but the advisors as well. “We will continue to push ourselves to be the most prepared and compassionate advisors that we can be. That means keeping up to date…and it means continually reflecting on our work. How well do we talk with writers? What can we measure about our conversations and how can we improve them?” Also in the future of the Writing Center are plans for online video sessions and new ways to promote the Center and Wittenberg’s writers.

The Writing Center is continually helping alumni as well. Alumni are more than welcome to stop by and use the Writing Center as a resource or to simply say hello. Dr. Mattison says that it’s always nice to see Writing Center alumni and to discuss how the Writing Center has helped to shape their lives after Wittenberg. Being an advisor is an invaluable lifelong tool because it challenges students to think critically, collaborate, and communicate clearly, all necessary to success in employment. Leigh Hastings Hall ’13 says “It's hard to narrow down which part of Wittenberg had been the most inspiring, but working in the Writing Center for three years was the most challenging and rewarding experience of my time at college. I was able to talk regularly with students from different cultural and academic backgrounds about their ideas and their writing, working with them to engage with challenging ideas and get a better understanding of their own beliefs and how to convey them.”

Opportunities for alumni to support the writing center include endowing a writing center advisor or supporting advisor research and travel, which is another important way to prepare students for life after Wittenberg. Simply put, Dr. Mattison believes the Writing Center “is all that we value in education — it is in this space that sharing, collaborating, and learning happen.”

To view the latest Writing Center Newsletter click here

Q&A With Mike Mattison, Ph.D.

Please tell us about Wittenberg’s Writing Center.
The Writing Center has been an integral part of Wittenberg for thirty-five years. It was founded in 1980, and since that time, thousands of students have sat down and talked about their writing with the hundreds of advisors who have given of their energy and talents. The Writing Center is deeply indebted to Mimi Dixon and Maureen Fry, the first two directors. They established the student-centered approach that we still follow today, and they also helped to establish the Writing Center as a place of student research. Currently, the Writing Center conducts an average of 1500 sessions every semester. These sessions are primarily one-to-one conversations between a writer and advisor.
In short, as we tell students, the Writing Center is not here because students can’t write, but because they do. Every writer needs a reader, and the Writing Center is staffed with compassionate, intelligent, engaged readers. There is perhaps nothing more valuable to a writer than the chance to talk with a reader who is focused on the piece of writing. And, we are prepared to work with writers at any stage of the writing process, on any piece of writing. We brainstorm ideas; we work with partial drafts; we support revisions of completed drafts; we talk about syntax and style and citations. Most of the writing we see is for the classroom, but we do also work on poetry and fiction and, just last year, a maid-of-honor speech.
In what ways does the Writing Center promote itself as an “active learning center?”
There is perhaps no learning spot on campus more active. We work with student writers, not for them. As we stipulate on our sign-in form,

We are an active, collaborative center. We work with you, looking for ways to help you become the best writer possible. And we’re willing to work with you at any stage of your writing process: planning, revising, editing. Our conversations are structured so that you can continue working on the piece of writing after the consultation—especially with longer papers. We might not talk about every sentence, but we’ll help you find ways to examine every sentence on your own.

Our first question for a student prompts her to describe what she’s working on, and we always begin with the questions or concerns that a writer has.

How has your academic and professional background prepared you for this type of work?
When I began my master’s work at Iowa State University, I had the good fortune to be able to work in the Writing Center as part of my teaching assignment. It was there that I first began to understand and appreciate the complex relationship between writer and reader on a one-to-one basis. When I was pursuing my doctorate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the school was just creating a writing center, and I worked as the assistant director, a position that allowed me to be involved in nearly every aspect of the center, from interviewing and hiring the consultants to networking with faculty to promote our work. From UMass, I went to Boise State University for six years, where I was a faculty member in the English department and the director of the Writing Center. I now hold those two positions at Wittenberg. (In truth, though, when people ask me what I do, I always answer first with the Writing Center. That’s how I see myself—as a Writing Center director.)

What are the most common issues that Witt students come to the center to discuss?
We keep track of what students want to work on, through our appointment calendar, and one of the most common requests is “coherence.” Students want to know if a paper makes sense. And a writer should be able to explain her topic, her ideas, to someone else. The advisors in the Writing Center serve as an interested audience so that a writer can gauge how clear she has been. We also often talk about citation styles. The distinction between MLA and APA (not to mention Chicago) is a new one for many incoming students, and we work with them to help them understand the style guides.

What skills does the center strive to instill in every student that visits?
Ultimately, the Writing Center hopes to prompt students to make a reader part of their writing process. We constantly tell students that we are not here because they can’t write, but because they do. Writers need readers, and the Writing Center provides just that. Over time, writers will ideally become more adept at directing their readers to focus on what they are most concerned with. I think the more experienced you become as a writer, the more directive you become in a session. You know whether or not you prefer to talk about a paper idea before drafting; you know if you want to make sure if an introduction gives enough background information for the audience; you know you have a tendency to be wordy in places. Writers never outgrow readers, but they do learn more about themselves as writers and become more comfortable with their process. You have to discover what works for you.

What would you say are the Writing Center’s strengths?
The advisors. We have a remarkable group of students committed to ensuring a positive, professional experience for every writer. Their goal, for each session, is to try and make sure that the writer is enthusiastic about revising a paper and that the writer has ideas for how to do so. Advising writers is, I believe, some of the most challenging work possible, but the advisors at Witt consistently impress me with their dedication, their compassion, and their good humor

What is your favorite thing about the Writing Center?
The conversations. When the Center is full, with writers and advisors talking at each table, I will often go and stand in the middle of the room and let those conversations swirl about me. You can hear the questions and the comments—Tell me more about this idea. What are you working on today? What’s most important to you about this section?—and it is those exchanges that are at the heart of what we do.

How do you utilize social media as a tool for the center?
We have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (if you’re reading this and not yet following us—please do so). The advisors will often create posts and links, and we try to highlight what we do and why.

How has the Writing Center changed over the years?
For one thing, we’ve changed spaces. The original spot for the Writing Center (originally the Writer’s Workshop) was over in Shouvlin. But, when Hollenbeck was opened in 2000, a spot was reserved for the Writing Center. We’re now above ground (with windows), and we are in an accessible spot on campus so that more students can stop in. We have also tried to keep current with our pedagogy and approach to writers. For example, we now have an online scheduling system, to replace the old pencil and paper model; and, we have begun conducting email sessions the past few years. These have proved extremely popular with students, and we conducted nearly 300 sessions last fall. We also have tried to collaborate with more and more writers, in more and more locations; in the past year, we have worked with high school students from Northridge High School and with inmates at the London Correctional Institute.

What are your future plans and goals for the Writing Center?
We will continue to push ourselves to be the most prepared and compassionate advisors that we can be. That means keeping up to date with writing center theory, and it means continually reflecting on our work. How well do we talk with writers? What can we measure about our conversations and how can we improve them? We are also looking to conduct synchronous online sessions; the writer and advisor would be able to meet online, sharing a paper draft on the screen and using audio/video to communicate.

We will also begin a new ad campaign this fall: Witt Writes. We feature several of the advisors, who talk about how writing relates to their field of study. (It would also be great to feature some alums, and they could talk about how writing has been a part of their lives after Wittenberg.)

What opportunities do current Tigers have to get involved in the center?
Every fall we conduct interviews for placement into English 242: Writing Center Theory and Practice. This course is required for students wishing to work as advisors. Here’s what we tell students who ask about the job:

Being an advisor at the Writing Center is one of the most rewarding experiences available to students at Wittenberg. To work with other writers not only contributes to their learning, but to your own, and it is an incredibly satisfying feeling to be part of a productive consultation. But being a consultant is also incredibly demanding. Good consultants are good writers, yes, but also good listeners, and they must be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of different writers and different writing situations. Of course we don’t expect everyone to be immediately ready to advise writers (nor do we ever envision a point where an advisor stops learning), so before anyone comes to work in the Center, he or she enrolls in the English 242 course, Writing Center Theory and Practice, offered every spring. Enrollment in the course is limited, and students must fill out an application, submit a writing sample, and interview with the director of the Center and with one of the Center’s advisors before being considered. Is this a lot to ask? Yes. But we pride ourselves on our work, and we think the rewarding experience of working with writers at Wittenberg is worth the effort.

How can becoming involved as an advisor help students in their futures?
If you read any article about what employers are looking for in graduates, it’s more than likely that you’ll find the following: an ability to think critically, an ability to collaborate, an ability to communicate clearly. The advisors in the Writing Center display those abilities every day. Those abilities are the essence of writing center work. Here’s what Leigh (Hastings) Hall ’13 had to say about her experience in the Writing Center:
It's hard to narrow down which part of Wittenberg has been the most inspiring, but working in the Writing Center for the last three years has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my time at college. I've been able to talk regularly with students from different cultural and academic backgrounds about their ideas and their writing, working with them to engage with challenging ideas and get a better understanding of their own beliefs and how to convey them.

That type of work plays extremely well with employers. From the Writing Center, advisors have been accepted to law school, medical school, graduate school (in a variety of majors), Teach for America, the Peace Corps, Actors Theatre of Louisville, teaching positions (high school, preschool, overseas). In all of these pursuits, they have been able to connect the work they’ve done in the Center with what they will be expected to do in their new positions.

What opportunities do Tiger alums have to get involved?
Obviously, any alum is welcome to stop by and visit us in the Writing Center. We’re always happy to give a tour and talk about what we do. Of course, any alum can also utilize the Writing Center as a resource. We’re happy to talk about any writing that you’re doing. And, if anyone is looking to support the Writing Center and the advisors, there are opportunities for that, too. An alum can endow an advisor position in the Writing Center—think of it as an endowed chair, but on a smaller scale. That endowment would sponsor an advisor each year, and that advisor would keep in touch with the alum, updating him or her on the happenings in the Writing Center. Or, there are opportunities to support advisor research and travel. The Writing Center is a place of research. The advisors have given dozens of presentations over the years, at both regional and national conferences. We have had biology majors investigate the role of gender in writing center sessions and a psychology major examine the use of mindfulness in our work. We have had a theatre major lead a workshop on improv exercises for writing center work, and a communication major explain the differences between sessions in the Writing Center and the Oral Communication Center. Helping students conduct, and then present, research is a major objective for me, and having support for such work is always welcome. The research is yet another way that the Writing Center helps prepare students for life after Wittenberg. (Here’s a link to our recent presentations: http://www.wittenberg.edu/writingcenter/research.)

What type of community (students, faculty, staff, alumni) has formed with the help of the center?
To begin to answer that, I’ll offer a comment from a past advisor:

The Center has been my home, my refuge in times of Finals, a sanctuary where my closest friends have gathered with regularity. I’ve slept… everywhere? On couches, under tables, on book stacks, in reclining chairs, on the floor... No location is unfit for sleep for the weary traveler! I’ve made waffles, countless bags of (butter-free, OR simply salted) popcorn, innumerable cups of tea (Earl and Lady Grey) and hot chocolate. I’ve written, revised, laughed, cried, mused, and discussed at length the widest variety of topics. The Center is and always will be my favorite place on Wittenberg’s campus. My code will remain memorized; those five little numbers meant entrance to this grand and majestic place. It is a place of magic tricks, juggling, and jokes; of pessimistic calendars and bright blue faces; of new faces and old faces. The Writing Center is. The Riding Centaur is. WC.

I think the advisors in the Writing Center form a tight bond with one another. They are colleagues, but they usually become friends, too. (And, yes, we have had one wedding in recent years. They first met when she was in English 242 and he was already an advisor in the Center. They had a session together, as part of the class assignment.)

What advice would you give to current Tigers regarding their studies and writing, especially as the semester comes to an end?
Start now. The sooner you start a writing project, the easier the process. Set deadlines for yourself, and use readers. Even if you’re not coming in to the Writing Center, find someone who can give you the time and energy to look over your work and offer you a thoughtful response. It’s that back and forth that leads to clear, coherent papers.

Any additional comments?
Quite simply, I think the Writing Center is the best place on campus. It embodies all that we value in an education—it is in this space that sharing, collaborating, and learning happen.