Re: Helpful Articles

[Beth Boquet <eboquet@FAIR1.FAIRFIELD.EDU>]

Dave--

Always the on-line tutor, aren't you? ;)

Seriously, those are helpful questions you pose.  The task of the 
Advisory Board is to support the vision of the writing center as a 
place where serious intellectual work on campus can occur.  Included 
in that idea, for me at least, is the notion that peer tutors and 
students can and do have important discussions about their work, that 
writing centers serve important functions other than simply "serving" 
the needs of a particular class or a particular instructor.

So the task is more complex that simply informing people that we 
exist.  Everyone knows that we exist, I believe.  What we're trying 
to do is round out the use of the writing center, maximize its 
potential.  

During these discussions, I want to be sure to keep us focused on the 
work of the writing center, avoiding discussions of "why can't 
students write anymore", blah, blah, blah.  I think that most of the 
folks on the board are anticipating a more complicated discussion 
than that one, but I think they probably also think they *know* what 
the writing center does/can do.  I want to start from where they are 
and move them farther.

Also, I guess I should say that the make-up of the board is decidedly 
theoretical (which probably comes as no surprise to many of you, 
given my orientation): a philosophy professor, a history professor, a 
postmodern chemist (who would love that description of him), two 
feminist theorists (one from business and one from economics), and a 
colleague from the English department.

Does this help to clarify at all?

--Beth Boquet
eboquet@fair1.fairfield.edu