Re: Identity crisis

["W.GaryGriswold " <GRISWOLD@beach1.csulb.edu>]

About the id crisis:

A mentor and close friend of mine always tells me that I make 
things very hard on myself because I'm always looking for logic and 
order. Well into my third year directing a writing center (and 8th
year teaching writing in general), I doing my best to give all that
up.

That preamble aside, here's short glimpse at how it is at our campus:

Our wc used to be housed inside a learning center, where it was 
directed by a fully-tenured faculty memebsr from the English 
dept.  After that person gave it up for one reason or 
another, I was asked to reorganize a new writing center elsewhere
on campus.  

Although I teach one or two courses as a temporary lecturer each semester,
my primamarly job at the university had been as the Assistant Director
for our prebaccalaureate writing program--a position paid primarily out
of an Chancellor's Office grant overseen by a VP in Academic Affairs. 
(Anyone nodding off yet?  Ther'll be a test!)  

Anyhow, to make the long story less long, my duties in the staff position 
were esentially redrawn to have me direct the WC.        

Now, the tutors are paid out of a "writing skills" account that goes 
through the English Dept., but my staff position is through the college diredctly--the college of Liberal Arts.  Nonetheless , I still pretty much 
report to the Engl. Dept composition coordinator and, in her absence.
I deal with the deans  and associate deans directly.

All in all, being on the staff side is great;  although I do
publish regularly in the area of teaching writing , etc., I'm
under no geart pressure to do so; running an effective writing center
is my main job.

By the way, we're no longer housed in the skills center; after a year of  
being essentially "squatters" I found new digs for us next door to the 
Engl. Dept.'s instructional computer lab.

Whew.  Enough.  Hope this helps.

Gary Griswold
Director
Writer's Resource Lab
Calif. State University, Long Beach