Re: Identity crisis

["Byron L. Stay" <stay@msmary.edu>]

Roberta,
	When our writing center began in 1980, the faculty (which at the
time consisted of two assistant professors) reported to an associate dean. 
Soon we were "given" to the English Department (sort of like an early
Christmas present).  During most of the 1980s, as writing center staff we
reported to an associate dean, and as classroom teachers we reported to
the chair of the English department.  This arrangement seemed to work
pretty well. We had a budget completely separate from the English
Department's (in fact, the chair of the English Department didn't even
know how much we received) and we were generally perceived as being an
autonomous program. 
	When we became the Rhetoric and Writing Department, the writing
center became our centerpiece.  We now have three tenured, two
tenure-track, and two adjunct faculty.  In addition to staffing the
Writing Center we offer a major and minor in rhetoric and writing and
teach a host of writing, media, and public speaking courses.  
	Steve Newmann and I may disagree about this, but I think the
writing center does just fine as part of a department, as long as the
department is genuinely sympathetic to the philosophy and methodology of
writing center instruction.
	Byron

Byron L. Stay
Department of Rhetoric and Writing
Mount St. Mary's College
Emmitsburg, MD  21727
301-447-5367
STAY@MSMARY.EDU