Re: requiring wc visits

["Karen L. Morris" <karenm@teleport.com>]

I want to jump into the "required visits" discussion--I am on both sides
of the issue.  I tutor in our center at Concordia six hours a week, and I
also teach three classes.  I require my basic writing students to come to
the center, giving them a variety of options of what they may do
there--ask for help with grammatical exercises, ask a tutor to review a
concept, or work at any stage of a paper.

I have seen required visits backfire, and I have also seen students get
"turned on" to the center after a required visit.  If the extra students
were a burden on an overcrowded lab, I wouldn't do it, but our lab is not
that busy most of the time, and the students are welcome.

I think the only answer to the question involves weighing both sides of
the issue--and  recognizing the possible benefits and drawbacks.  As
center directors, if you don't want instructors to require visits, that
needs to be communicated directly to them, along with the reasons.

Karen Morris
Concordia, Portland, OR

karenm@teleport.COM  (ears up, whiskers clean, and still purring)