Re: Bon Voyage, Twila, and Thanks!

[Sylvia Whitman <swhitman@Rollins.Edu>]

Jon Olson wrote:
> 
> It just occurred to me (while reading a message from Twila Yates Papay to
> the board about planning the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in
> Writing in November) that Twila's last year directing a writing center is
> about to end.  Soon after the semester ends and the decision of Twila's
> dean to dissolve the writing center at Rollins goes into effect, Twila will
> head off to Africa on a well-deserved sabbatical.  When she returns to
> Winter Park, FL, she won't be a writing center director any longer.
> 
> Twila, I feel deep gratitude to you for your example in writing center
> work.  I especially admire the ways you've found to dignify and
> professionalize the work of your peer tutors.  I know you've brought these
> students to speak at numerous writing center conferences, including the
> NCPTW and NWCA; as I remember it, you found a way to take tutors to eight
> conferences one year. You embody what Betty Garrison Shiffman calls an
> ethic of caring in writing center instruction (June '95 _WLN_).  Your ethic
> of caring is rigorous and intelligent, evidenced by the quality of your
> work.  I know your work has inspired other writing center directors as well
> during the 15-or-so years you've been in the writing center biz since you
> established the Rollins Writing Center.
> 
> Bon voyage, Twila.  And thank you.  --Jon, Penn State, jeo3@psu.edu


	Talk about a tough act to follow.  Next year I'll be coordinating the
Rollins College Writing Center--which luckily is in no immediate danger
of being dissolved.  We're welcoming back about 17 veteran consultants
and hiring a new crop based on recommendations from faculty, as usual,
including Twila.  Last year Rollins hired a director for its new
comprehensive academic support center (of which the writing center is
now a part), and new leadership has created a ripple of change.  

	When I arrived at Rollins as a "learning specialist" last fall, I
didn't realize that I was going to have any official role in the writing
center, but I attended all the staff meetings and just hung around.  A
peer consultant as an undergrad, I remember the writing center at
Harvard-Radcliffe as a deliciously subversive place, but I have a lot to
learn about the new world of writing centers.  No one who's listened to
Twila teach can fail to be impressed by her scholarship and devotion to
the writing center.  I can only hope that I've been a good "learning
specialist."  Twila has nurtured a wonderful community, and I'll try to
give the students whatever support they need to sustain it.

	Apologies for such a long-winded clarification ...  Cheers, Sylvia
-- 
Sylvia Whitman, learning specialist
Johnson Student Resource Center, Rollins College