[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Using the Writing Center to Make Money
Jo--
Although I am only a lurker on wcenter, I couldn't help pushing the Reply
button after reading your post and telling you how much I appreciate the
thoroughness of your response to this thread.
Pat
At 07:58 AM 7/13/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>WINTHROP UNIVERSITY Electronic Mail Message
> Date: 13-Jul-1997 08:25am EST
> From: Josephine K. Tarvers
> TARVERSJ
> Dept: English
> Tel No: (803) 323-4557
>
>TO: Remote Addressee ( _smtp%"wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu" )
>
>Subject: Re: Using the Writing Center to Make Money
>
>Like Pat and Jeanne, I have some reservations about what might potentially
be a
>good way to link a center with the larger community--that is, using it as a
>consultant. But having run a consulting firm, and run a writing center at a
>business (for Bell Labs), I want to pose a few questions that you might
want to
>think about before diving in.
>
>1. Priorities. Usually corporate clients are on tight deadlines. They want it
>now, if not yesterday. If you are short-staffed, who gets first priority--the
>corporate person who needs help with her proposal or the freshman who needs
help
>with the essay due tomorrow? There will be pressure to put the corp client
first
>because s/he is a "paying" client. What will your policy be for handling
>priorities, and will your administration support it?
>
>2. Administrative costs. Running separate schedules and providing separate
sets
>of handouts, materials, etc., is expensive. Is your institution willing to
>provide you with separate secretarial support (people, computer, copier)?
>Who will pay for your fax machine, phone bills, mounting your corporate
>consulting web page?
>
>3. Marketing. There are good consulting firms out there who want the business
>from those companies. They market, they network, they make cold calls, etc.
Who
>will do that for the Writing Center consulting service? Will you as
director be
>expected to do that as part of your duties? Do you want to do that, are you
>trained to do that, will you be paid appropriately for doing that? (My
marketing
>people got bonuses for bringing in new client business. Will your budget allow
>that, for instance?)
>
>4. Training. The kinds of consulting your colleague suggests involve some
highly
>specialized knowledge and experience. Do your tutor/consultants have that
>knowledge base and expertise? If not, how will they get it, or will you get
>tutor/consultants who can offer it? Will the university provide/pay for
training
>for your consultants?
>
>4. Fees. Pat is only touching the tip of the iceberg in his fee discussion.
Your
>community may not tolerate your charging fees comparable to consultants in
your
>area, because you are already "paid" by the taxpayers. You will have to either
>set lower fees (in which case less money will trickle down to your GAs) or be
>willing to spend a good deal of time justifying charging professional rates
for
>professional services. And if you charge what the other consultants in your
area
>charge, you will find yourself back in the marketing game--what will you
have to
>offer to have a client select your group instead of your competition's
services?
>
>5. Market. There is a lot less business out there for writing consulting than
>there was ten years ago; the market (and corporate budgets) shrunk in the
age of
>downsizing. Corporate budgets for training and performance coaching are on
>average about 35% less than they were in 1991. Before you commit the Center to
>paying its GA's way through consulting, you need to know there is a market out
>there--this will require a thorough, preferably professional market analysis.
>Is your Center equipped to perform one, or is there a department at your
>institution who can perform one? (And who will pay for it?) Given my own
>experience, I would not encourage ANYONE--either a Center or an individual--to
>try to support themselves by writing consulting without knowing exactly
what the
>market is. Anecdotal evidence is not enough.
>
>6. Rhythm. The major times for corporate demand is at the end of quarters (end
>of March, June, October, December), with June and December the busiest.
Will you
>have enough consultants around in the last ten days of December or of June to
>handle demand? In late March and late October (midterm season), how busy is
your
>Center and will you be able to handle extra corporate demand?
>
>7. Networking. Will the university pay for the Center to join the
Association of
>Professional Writing Consultants, the American Society for Training and
>Development, and other professional networks for consultants? Or do they want
>you to act like pros but not join them?
>
>8. Revenue Stream. Your colleague suggested this as a way to pay for GAs in
the
>department. Will the Center GAs get this money, or will it be spread around
the
>department? I.E., will your GAs be supporting themselves or other students
>through their labors? Consulting is also not consistent; sometimes you have a
>lot of work, while at other times you will not. Will you be able to make a
>steady weekly payroll with this revenue stream? What happens if a corp client
>pays late or disputes the bill? Will the GA's check bounce? (And who will
handle
>billing and bookkeeping, btw? If it goes through the University, it may
take an
>extra month for the money to appear in your account.)
>
>This is not meant to be a wet blanket for your plans. But having been there
>myself, I know there are a lot of pitfalls lurking in the world of consulting,
>and don't want you to have to repeat the mistakes I made! ;-) If your
colleagues
>see the complexity of this issue, rather than think of it as "Oh, the
Center can
>generate money for us," you may be able to have a productive discussion and
set
>up an arrangement beneficial to everyone. I hope for your sake that this can
>happen.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Jo
>-----------------
>Jo Koster Tarvers
>Department of English and Writing Center
>Winthrop University
>Rock Hill, SC 29733 USA
>(803-323-4557 voice) (803-323-4837 fax)
>tarversj@winthrop.edu
>"This writing business, pencils and what-not. Overrated if you ask me."--Eeyore
>
>
Pat McLaughlin
Department of English Language and Literature
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
(517) 774-3417