Re: Appointments

[anne mullin <mullanne@isu.edu>]

Sonja Bagby wrote:
> 
> Dear WCenter Friends:
> My center has grown so much that I have questions about a good thing--too
> many writers for the number of tutors.
> 
> In the past, we have allowed mostly drop-ins, but now we find the need to
> encourage appointments.   We have some unhappy procrastinators, but we
> manage better when we DO ask people to make appointments by phone or email
> or when we must turn them away.
> 
> The questions:
> 1)Do your centers insist upon appointments?  Why or why not?
> At our main location we operate by appointment, and advertise this in our fliers, etc. and through faculty.  We have three drop-in places -- residence hall, athletes' study hall, and our satellite campus. 
> 2)Do you mostly have drop ins, or do you balance the two?
> It works really well. If prospective "drop-ins" appear at our appointment location, we do try to find them an appointment slot or fit them in or ask them go on a waiting list for a no-show.  We can usually do something to show that we try to help everyone, but can certainly do it better if we have them scheduled ahead of time.
> 3)And do you hire someone simply to "person" the desk and control the ebb and flow of humanity?
> Our Writing Lab is part of the Academic Skills Center, which has a fulltime secretary, a part time secretary, and a work-study student -- all of whom manage the flow plus a mess of other responsibilities.
> 4) Hhow do you handle the panicked, the frantic, the upset, the angry, the
> hurried and the harried?
> We end up trying to fit people in because they "didn't know" they needed an
> appointment.
> We've been operating this way for as long as I've been here (8+ years)so all the publicity materials and class room presenters and faculty pretty much know the deal.
> 5)Will people eventually accept this change?  Is this just a growing pain
> or a mounting problem? 
I'd just keep sending messages on your campus e-mail network,
mini-fliers to faculty, posters, etc. -- it's a wonderful chance to let
everyone know how successful you are -- and you can plump for the
appointment by noting the advantages of uninterrupted attention in the
one-one 30-minute conference -- surely worth the phone call, right?
> 
> 6)And if we do change to appoinment only, how can we spread the word most
> effectively?
> 
> I really need your input for this thorny challenge.
> Thanks in advance for your help.
> Sonja
> 
> Sonja S. Bagby
> Director, University Writing Center
> College of Arts and Sciences
> State University of West Georgia
> Carrollton, GA 30118
> sbagby@westga.edu
> 770-830-2258