Re: the tutee's privacy

[Karl Fornes <karlf@usca.usca.sc.edu>]

Our policy is similar to Kevin's as described below--and for much the same
reasons--with one major difference; the "default" is to send a report to
the instructor. That is, the students must check a box on our summary forms
if they do NOT want the form sent to their instructors. Only about 5% check
the box.

That 5% always makes me wonder, though. I'm fairly certain that the Writing
Room enjoys at least a positive, if not excellent, reputation with every
instructor on campus with which I've spoken (We're on a campus of about
2,000 students, and I've spoken with practically every instructor.) What,
then, would motivate students to indicate that they did not want their
instructors to know that they were working on their papers?

I have some guesses, but I'm interested in your responses first. Actually,
I want to get out of here and enjoy Labor Day weekend.

karl
(who has missed wcenter)


>Noreen,
>    At the heart of your questions is another one: for
>whom do you work?  Some WCs clearly work for the
>professor, using referral forms to bring people to the
>WC, mandatory report forms to keep the prof posted.
>I believe this model clearly implies that the professor
>is at the center of the learning process and, therefore,
>at the center of what the WC does.
>
>    However,  I decided many years ago that our WC
>would work for students.  As a result, we don't have
>referral forms for profs to use, and all of our business
>is walk-in, students who have brought themselves to
>the WC.  I believe that this model clearly implies that the
>student is at the center of the learning process.
>
>     That said, here's my answer to your question.  Since
>some profs give extra credit to coerce students to use
>the WC and since some students otherwise want their
>profs to know they've been to the WC, we have a
>student-initiated reporting system.  At the end of a
>session, we give the student a summary form, saying
>"If you want your prof to know you've been here,
>fill this out and leave it with me, and we'll send it to your
>professor."  This approach makes the choice entirely
>the student's, and it makes reporting what went on the
>student's task (we feel less like tattle-tales this way).
>Interestingly, about 90% of our FYC students fill out
>the form, but less than 5% of our other business.
>
>I believe my position is in the minority on this list.  And
>many of the people who disagree with me can offer
>very good reasons for using other systems.  I urge you
>to look over those other positions, too.
>
>But the bottom line, to me, is this.  A WC has to have an
>underlying operational philosophy.  The director has to
>be able to comfortably live within that philosophy.  And
>the ultimate decision on reporting and a lot of other things
>comes from that operational philosophy.  So don't just
>consider WHAT we do, but consider WHY we do what
>we do, and decide what kind of WC you want to build.
>
>kevin


Karl Fornes, Director
USC-Aiken Writing Room
University of South Carolina--Aiken
171 University Parkway
Aiken, SC 29801
karlf@aiken.sc.edu

Office: (803) 648-6851 ext 3706
Writing Room: (803) 648-6851 ext 3262

Check out the On-line Writing Room at:
http://www.usca.sc.edu/uscaonlinewr/olwr.html