(read the new Mission Statement!)
For over twenty years, the Department of Rhetoric and Composition has organized the Writing Associates Program, an innovative,
academically based initiative which provides student-to-student
tutoring in writing. Writing associates are rigorously trained; to become
eligible to be a writing associate, juniors and seniors must apply
to take "Teaching and Tutoring Across the Curriculum."This
tutor-training course introduces students to theories and
pedagogies of writing, peer tutoring, literacy and other
topics. The tutor-training course is open to students from
any major (this year we have majors from Biology, English,
History, Physics, Religion, Sociology and Women’s
Studies, among others). The Writing Associates Program currently
trains 24 tutors each year and is well respected on campus,
both by faculty and students.
While enrolled in the tutor-training course,
students work in the drop-in Writing Center in the College’s
library run by the Rhetoric and Composition Program or are
placed as assistants in individual courses with a significant
writing component. Currently, the Writing Center is open
sixty hours a week, serving a range of students from first-years
writing their first college essay to seniors drafting honors
proposals. Eighteen students are currently assisting in
individual courses such as "Neuroscience and the Mind,"
"The First Amendment," and "Basic Writing."
Writing associates participate in a variety of activities, giving one-to-one
sessions, facilitating peer review workshops, and leading
workshops on writing for interdisciplinary seminars for
first-year students.
All students in the Writing Associates Program
– including those who have completed the tutor-training
course and those currently taking the course – must
enroll in a practicum that provides staff development and
continuing training. The practicum (“Rhetoric and
Composition 483: Tutoring Lab”) is offered every semester
for zero or one credit. In any given semester, it enrolls
24 to 40 students.
Mission Statement
(by Alex DelValle, Stacey Gerson, Fall
2002)
The Oberlin College Writing Associates Program
is a free and student-staffed writing tutor service based
at Oberlin College. Our services include operating a Drop-In
Writing Center in Mudd Library, course tutoring, and individual
student tutoring upon request, as well as outreach programs
into the Oberlin town and community.
Mission Statement: The writing associates
of Oberlin College offer support and act as a writing resource
to members of Oberlin College and the surrounding community.
We help with every stage of the writing process, from the
generation of ideas to fine-tuning grammar. We help students
become confident writers by offering general feedback, suggestions
for improvement, and challenging students to take their
writing to new levels. As writing associates, we are not perfect
writers and will not fix things for you, but we can help
you to write more successfully by enhancing your individual
strengths and improving upon your weaknesses. We empower
you to take control of your writing by accepting and appreciating
different writing styles and formats. Writing associates
help all students with their writing, and are non-judgmental
allies in the writing process.
Our primary goal is to instill a sense of
confidence in Oberlin community members by offering them
support and the tools with which to write more successfully.
