Re: Extra-curricular consulting

[Lynnell Edwards <ledwar@mail.cu-portland.edu>]

Colleagues:

Many thanks for your encouraging replies; if I'm a control freak at least
I'm not the only one out there.  I will share your replies with my tutors
today at our staff meeting and also ask them their thoughts about the
issue.  I have quite a few new tutors who may not quite know what to expect,
but I do know from some of the more experienced staff that what many of you
describe they will recognize as a problem.

Also, it's interesting to hear how some of you have begun considering how to
take the tutoring to the student.  We are some ways away from developing an
on-line lab, but that is in the wings, especially since for many of our
non-traditional students getting to the writing center is difficult.  I am
very much in favor of putting a tutor in the dorms, it's just perhaps a
matter of creative budget.  Wish us luck when we open on Tuesday!

Lynnell Edwards
Concordia University, Portland OR


Diepenbrock, Chloe wrote:

> Hi Lynell,
> If you're a control freak then I don't know what I would be called!  I
> don't allow my tutors to work outside the center.  My theory is that if
> I can't supervise it I don't want to be held accountable for it.  I tell
> all of my trainees from the very beginning that they are not allowed to
> tutor (as WC tutors) except in the center.  They can work for pay
> (that's their business) of course.  Occasionally we have students asking
> tutors for help while they are in the cafeteria or the library and every
> time someone feels sympathetic and caves in it becomes a problem.  (The
> next thing they know the student is following them into the bathroom
> with a packet of 18 papers to "just read" in their "free time.")
> I'm not sure how to change something once it has become an established
> practice though.  People get really funny when something they have come
> to expect is withdrawn.  Good luck.
>
> Chloe Diepenbrock
> UHCL
>
> > ----------
> > From:         Lynnell Edwards[SMTP:ledwards@cu-portland.edu]
> > Reply To:     wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu
> > Sent:         Thursday, September 03, 1998 9:27 AM
> > To:   diepenbrock@uhcl.cl.uh.edu
> > Subject:      Extra-curricular consulting
> >
> >
> > colleagues:
> >
> > I have a curious situation that may or may not be a problem, but I
> > would
> > like some responses from any of you who might have a similar
> > situation.  I
> > have a slight suspicion that the writing consultants in our center may
> > be
> > doing so much advising outside the time they spend in the center that
> > it is
> > actually undermining use of the Center itself.  Let me explain:
> > Concordia
> > is a very small campus with a small residential population.  The
> > students
> > who work in the writing center are well known, mostly live on campus
> > and
> > want to work in the writing center partially because they like and
> > have been
> > doing a lot of this business of helping people with their papers.  The
> > problem I'm concerned about is that students have been used to going
> > to them
> > late at night, in the dorms, at their convenience, etc and so don't
> > think
> > about the effort (and foresight) that might be involved in going to
> > the
> > "official" writing center instead. On one hand, I'm not that
> > territorial
> > about "forcing" people to only get help on their papers in a certain
> > room at
> > a certain time, but it may be presenting some problems:
> >
> > 1. protecting the tutors' own time --- they run the risk of being
> > overwhelmed by requests for help at the expense of their own study
> > time.
> > They are generous, hard-working souls but may not know how to say
> > "no."
> > There is also no way to pay them for this kind of work.
> >
> > 2.   The "official" writing center is sometimes (too often) very, very
> > slow
> > and it looks like we are paying tutors to "sit around".
> >
> > 3.  We have no way to track or get credit for the work the tutors (via
> > their writing center training) are doing for the campus.
> >
> >
> > I think given our budget and the nature of the school, we are open at
> > optimal times, and, unfortunately, any move to hold "writing center"
> > hours
> > in the dorms would come at the cost of a further reduction of regular
> > hours
> > open to everyone.  Plus, I do think that if the tutors could somehow
> > start
> > channeling this "extra curricular" consulting they're doing late night
> > into
> > the regular hours, we'd be much busier.  On an institution-wide
> > assessment
> > we did the number one reason why people didn't use the writing center
> > was,
> > "I get help somewhere else."    I don't think most of this
> > extra-curricular
> > consulting occurs because the student was legitimately unable to ever
> > use
> > the center at a convenient time.  I'm still exploring creative
> > solution for
> > delivering our services ---- and am not ruling out putting tutors in
> > the
> > dorms at night (particularly on Sunday night). But, I would be really
> > interested on hearing any responses to the following:
> >
> > 1.  Peer tutors out there who are on this list:  How much
> > "extra-curricular
> > consulting" (as described above) do you do?  Do you have trouble
> > saying "no"
> > when you're really busy with your own work?  Do you do anything to
> > encourage
> > people to use your campus writing center instead?
> >
> > 2.  Do any of you at small campuses percieve this as an issue at your
> > school?
> >
> > 3.  Am I just being a control freak??
> >
> > thanks!
> >
> > Lynnell Edwards
> > Concordia University, Portland OR
> >