Re: Appointments

[Kendra Banks Perry <banks@andrews.edu>]

Sonja Bagby wrote:

> 1)Do your centers insist upon appointments?  Why or why not?

While we do have appointments available, we don't insist on them.  We
find it's a good way for students to feel they have a guaranteed time
that will be dedicated to them.
 
> 2)Do you mostly have drop ins, or do you balance the two?

Since we don't insist on appointments, we have a fair number of
drop-ins.  But appointments always take first priority.  If someone
drops in and there is no tutor immediately available, we offer them the
option to make an appointment.
 
> 3)And do you hire someone simply to "person" the desk and control the
> ebb and flow of humanity?

Our center is fairly small, so mostly we just take turns answering the
phone and speaking to clients who come in.  We did finally add one extra
tutor on Sunday nights last year whose sole purpose was to answer the
phone and speak to people coming in, but that was because it was so busy
that no one could get any work done.  The rest of the time, we manage
with 2-3 tutors and no receptionist.
 
> 4) How do you handle the panicked, the frantic, the upset, the angry, > the hurried and the harried?

We try to stay calm, and calm them down sympathetically, then encourage
them to make an appointment next time.  Our biggest problems last year
were students whose teachers required them to come to us, but the
students waited until the night before and didn't schedule an
appointment.  We emphasized to them (and so did the teachers) the
importance of planning ahead for situations like that.  Occasionally we
get someone who is upset because their paper is due the next class
period, but in a situation like that we can't really do much anyway. 
Overall, people don't seem to get too bent out of shape.

We also offer them the option to wait and see if a tutor finishes
early.  That way they may be able to get an abbreviated appointment --
obviously not the full 30 minutes, but at least 10 or so.

> 5)Will people eventually accept this change?  Is this just a growing 
> pain or a mounting problem?

Over the three years that I've been working in the Writing Center, our
clientele has shifted from mostly drop-in to mostly appointment.  This
isn't because of anything we've done on purpose, but because clients
seem to prefer it.  It lets them know that someone will be there when
they need them to be, and that they will have a set amount of time
dedicated to them.
 
> 6)And if we do change to appoinment only, how can we spread the word 
> most effectively?

In all our advertising (posters, bookmarks, ads, announcements), we
include a statement giving our phone number and encouraging people to
call.


One problem we had was people making appointments "just in case" and not
showing up.  Sometimes other clients would be waiting, and we felt it
wasn't fair to have a tutor just sitting there waiting.  We finally
adopted the policy that if the client is more than 5 minutes late, and
someone else is waiting, we have the right to cancel the appointment and
work with the other person.

Hope this is helpful!

Kendra Banks Perry
banks@andrews.edu

Student Supervisor
Andrews University Writing Center
http://www.andrews.edu/WC