Writing Center moves to new spot

The Writing Center and the Expository Writing Program currently situated in the Owen House will move on April 7 to the Greenhouse Annex, located behind Gilman Hall next to the faculty lot, in order to make room for a new chemistry building on the original site. Chosen because of its close proximity to the English Department in Gilman, the Writing Center will resume its duties on April 8.

"The Greenhouse Annex offers more than twice the current consultation space," said Director of the Expository Writing Program W.T. Pferfferle. "While we all love the quaint and rustic quality of Owen House, the improved facility of the Annex will make our jobs easier."

He continued to explain that the size of the staff will remain the same, enabling tutors to meet with students in a more comfortable setting.

"The Expository Writing Program has offered more sections and reached more students in each of the past three semesters, so our needs will be better met with a larger space," Pferfferle said.

Next year's Writing Center Director Jason Potts added that the only drawback to the new location is that students have never heard of the Greenhouse prior to the move and will have to take the initiative to find the new facility behind Gilman.

"The Greenhouse is actually nicer than our current space so we are happy," Potts said. "We have more room so we won't be shouting over each other when multiple consultations are taking place at the same time."

Because the Writing Center and the Expository Writing Program will be sharing the space, Pferfferle felt that the move will be beneficial because there will be more opportunities for the center and program to interact closely together, meeting the needs of all student writers.

"The hope is that by having many programs in one location we can more efficiently use support personnel as well as encourage intellectual interaction among the various programs," Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Steven David said.

Dean Gary Ostrander added that "the School of Arts and Sciences sponsored the move" in order to make room for the new San Martin Center.

To construct the new chemistry research facility, the Owen House will be demolished and a three-story research building known as the San Martin Center will be put in its place.

"It's exciting that a new chemistry facility is coming to campus," freshman Christina Bonsanti said. "Even though the writing center is moving to a superior facility, I'll still miss the cozy atmosphere of the Owen House."

According to Writing Center Director Erica Burleigh, the Writing Center first started in 1995 after a group of students discussed the need for a place to talk about writing and editing without the formal constraints of the classroom, but with more direction and expertise than talking to friends. The first director and former English graduate student Steve Newman worked to convert the idea into action as he worked closely with faculty and the deans for space, funding and recognition for the value of a "more informal, one-to-one, venue for learning," according to Burleigh.

"The Writing Center has been very successful in helping students. Our return rate suggests that those students who use our services benefit both immediately and throughout their academic career," Burleigh said. "Our greatest challenge involves getting students to try us once - usually the first visit is a positive experience - and students find themselves able to make use of the tools they discussed with their consultant in other papers, which brings them back to learn and polish their writing even more."

The Writing Center sees all different types of writers from novices to advanced stylists and reads all kinds of writing such as papers, essays, senior theses, technical writing, fiction, poetry and graduate school applications. The staff consists of undergraduate and graduate students who were recommended by the faculty and completed the one-credit fall course entitled "Training in Writing Consultation," preparing potential staff members to work midway through the semester for four hours per week.

"I love working at the Writing Center. I started working there because I was asked to do so by an earlier director, but it really is some of the most rewarding work I do," Burleigh said. "You get to sit down with a student who's stressed about a paper, calm her down, help her see what she's done well and where she can fine-tune her thinking and send her off with better writing skills and more confidence in her ability to implement those skills - all in under an hour a session.